Instagram’s New Feature Allows Pinning Of Comments To Give Users More Agency And Weed Out Bullies. We Think It’s A Good Thought!
I have a question. Do you fall asleep while scrolling through Instagram every night or are you weird? Let’s admit it, these apps have become an important part of everyone’s life. From our parents to colleagues to peers, every one lives a certain life on social media and that is hard to cut ties with. And while we are impressed with an advancement in technology, there has unfortunately also been an advancement in the misuse of it. Just as digital life has replaced the normal living, bullying to has found its way online. With the privilege of a cheap wifi and an anonymous identity behind a user name, you can bring down almost anyone now, with no regards for their feelings or mental health.
But seems like, Instagram is finally taking account of the gravity of cyber bullying, and doing its bit to bring an end to it. At least on their platform. Introducing a new feature, built in specially to tackle this problem of bullying and trolling, Instagram has introduced its pinned comment feature that allows users to pin three comments to the top of their feed posts and better manage the conversation.
Even though the social media giant had started the test runs back in May, it announced of this new feature last week. Instagram users would now be allowed to swipe right on the comments on their posts and decide for themselves whether they want to pin it to appear as the top three visible comments, delete it or report it.
Today we’re rolling out pinned comments everywhere. 📌
That means you can a pin a few comments to the top of your feed post and better manage the conversation. pic.twitter.com/iPCMJVLxMh
— Instagram (@instagram) July 7, 2020
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This move seeks to protect content creators, celebrities, businesses and even individuals that often feel threatened, harassed and have even faced abuse at the hands of those who comment with no shame, respect or sensitivity. Allowing people to manage their profiles better, the app’s comment moderation has also shown a significant improvement in its artificial intelligence to automatically block offensive comments. Seems like a win-win for us!
At at a time when all of our mental health is fragile and could be hanging by a thread, to have one more offensive or abusive comment come our way, could push anyone over the edge and we certainly don’t need that right now. Which is why, this new feature hasn’t just come at the best time, but would also help users to take charge of their own profiles, further enabling a more healthy, dynamic comments section. This also puts the reins back in the hands of the owner of the profile so they can steer the conversation in a direction they deem fit.
Meanwhile, the company also revealed that from October to March it took action against three million pieces of content for bullying and harassment. Guess this move will help them to bring the number down, and make the bullies realise, how the world could use less of their unsolicited advice.
