Instagram has announced a bunch of improvements that will help users not be disturbed while scrolling through their feed, along with better control of their Browse content and a way for parents to view their teens’ Instagram account.
Detailed in a blog post (opens in a new tab), these features will slowly roll out to iOS and Android users starting today (January 19), with Silent Mode spearheading these improvements. Similar to ‘Do Not Disturb’ on iOS and Android, it will let your followers know that you do not wish to be disturbed for a certain period of time.
It’s a useful feature for those who primarily use Instagram over other social platforms, along with the ability to group a bunch of photos and videos into the Explore tab that you don’t care about, something I’ve found being done more.
However, there is one aspect of Instagram that I would love to see some improvements to next.
Let’s see some effort to fix spam now.
Recently, when I post a Story on my Instagram account, I get a barrage of notifications from spam accounts that have 0 followers, with links to websites with adult content. The above is a small example of that, and it is puzzling.
While it’s nice to see improved parental controls, all users of the platform will be as vulnerable to spam as I have been, so it should be a high priority for Meta.
The same also applies when I’m posting photos on my dog’s Instagram account. (opens in a new tab). I’ll suddenly get notifications to share the post on another account with two followers, or get message requests to do a merch ‘collaboration’, leading to empty links and web pages dealing with completely different topics.
Spam seems to be getting worse lately, so let’s see a renewed effort to clamp down on it. All users are at risk of talking to a spam account that could steal their account, and with increased focus on parental controls, the time seems perfect to look into the problem and find a solution.
