It’s no secret that social media channels have become a harvesting platform for many bullies and trolls. While Twitter is the most toxic, Instagram is also overshadowed by abusers with its hateful comments. To address these potentially harmful issues that can seriously harm mental health, Instagram launched A new feature called “Restrict”. It allows users to mute contacts on Instagram without blocking them. I’ve discussed the feature in its entirety below, so let’s go ahead and check out how it differs from blocking someone and why you should use it often.
What is the New Restrict Feature on Instagram?
Instagram is trying to prevent bullying and harassment on its platform with its new Restrict feature. A recent survey revealed that teens are regularly harassed and bullied by both acquaintances and strangers. While you can use the Block feature to completely silence a stranger, hard for a person to block someone they know, especially when they are part of their daily social circle. It can make your bullies even more uneasy and may do more harm than good.
You can use the Restrict feature to defeat the bullies. It’s very similar to the mute feature on Twitter. You simply choose not to listen to your bullies. They can comment on your posts, message you, tag you in photos, but none of them can end up in your notification log. You won’t be aware of their activities no matter what, and they will be hidden from your timeline, stories and all over Instagram. This is really great, isn’t it? You really silence a person, both literally and figuratively. Having said that, here are the things it will affect after restricting an account on Instagram.
Comments: Comments written by bullies can only be seen by them. Neither you nor your followers will be able to see comments made by restricted accounts. However, you can choose to view these comments by tapping the “View Comment” option. You can then approve the comment to make it publicly viewable, delete or ignore it.
Direct Messages: All messages sent by restricted accounts will go to “Message Request”, so you will not receive any notifications. But you can still choose to read the messages, but your bullies will never know your last active status or when you read them.
Notifications: None. Not from comments, direct messages, media or comment tagging or any activity of the restricted account.
How to Use Restrict Feature on Instagram?
1. Just open the profile you want to restrict on Instagram and Tap the 3-dot menu in the upper right corner. Here, tap on “Restrict”.
2. After that, it will open a small dialog summarizing all the new changes. Finally, Tap the “Restrict Account” button and you’re done.
SEE ALSO: Top 10 New Instagram Features You Should Use in 2019
Silence Your Bullies on Instagram
So that was our quick look at Instagram’s Restrict feature and how you can use it to stay mentally sound on the platform. I really like how Instagram has made changes to this feature from removing likes. All of this shows that the platform takes the mental health of its community seriously, which is really cool. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you found the article helpful, share it with your friends and let us know your feedback in the comment section below.