Instagram fights back against bullying and trolls

A great step forward from Instagram was announced today to reduce online bullying, with 2 new features. This could help dental practices who may be having trouble with disgruntled patients or ex-employees and indeed protect your young & vulnerable patients…so spread the word!

Are you sure you want to post this?

Powered by AI (artificial intelligence) Instagram’s new feature will assess comments as they are written and notify the user if their comment is considered offensive BEFORE it’s posted. A message will pop up, saying “Are you sure you want to post this?” Although this won’t stop determined haters, it will at least make some stop and reflect, which is a step in the right direction.

Coming soon: ‘Restrict’ feature!

Instagram recognises that some users are reluctant to ‘Block’, ‘Unfollow’ or report bullies as they fear this might make the situation worse if they know the person in real life. So this new feature will allow you to control your experience without letting the person know.

Soon they will be testing a new ‘Restrict’ button. Once you ‘Restrict’ that person, only they will see their comments. You can ‘approve’ their comment for public view if you wish, but otherwise they will be hidden. Also, ‘Restricted’ people won’t be able to see when you’re active on Instagram or when you’ve read their DM.

This could be particularly useful for practices who are having trouble with unreasonable, disgruntled or aggressive patients or ex-employees who may be trying to damage your reputation. Testing will begin soon so we expect an update on this later in the year.

Watch this space…?