Instagram plans to release a new feature aimed at combating bullies on its platform.
The new function, called Restrict, will create a one-way mirror between a user and a restricted bully. According to Time, the innovative setting will allow users to monitor their bullies without alerting the restricted user or creating easily detected changes to the bully’s account.
“The goal here is to basically put some space between you and them,” Francesco Fugo, an Instagram designer who focuses on user well-being said.
There are already several options for users to restrict the influence of peers who bully them. Users can block accounts, report comments, or flag content for review by moderators. According to Fugo, these options seem “very harsh” to teenagers, who are the most reluctant to take action against bullies.
Restrict takes a more “holistic” approach to reducing the harm done by bullying.
The new anti-bullying measure will act as a one-way mirror, instead of a wall, when it comes to “restricting” accounts. Bullies will be able to see their peers’ posts like normal, but will not know when the user is online or has read their messages.
Restrict will also allow users to preemptively screen comments on their posts. Comments from a bully will appear behind a “sensitivity screen.” Users can either choose to read the comment or delete it immediately. Once viewed, they can either approve the comment so everyone can see it, delete it, or leave it as pending. A pending comment will seem normal to the bully, but will be invisible to peers.
Under the new feature, users will not be notified when a bully sends them a direct message. Direct messages from restricted bullies will appear in a separate spam mailbox, usually reserved for message requests. If a user wants to respond to a message, they will have un-restrict the bully. Nothing will appear out of the ordinary for the restricted user.
When it comes to tagging, Restrict will require bullies to type in the entire handle of a user who has restricted them in order to mention them in a post. Normally, Instagram automatically suggests familiar peers when users type in handles.
Instagram has released innovative anti-bullying features in the past, yet many users still don’t know they exist. As a result, engineers and designers at the company are experimenting with better ways to notify users of new settings.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri hopes his company’s research into social media bullying will eventually be used by other sites to improve their user experience.
“You have to go deep into the nuances if you’re going to come up with more sophisticated answers,” Mosseri told Time in May. “On the issue of bullying, we want to be generative. We want to think about new and interesting ways to address the issue.”
Instagram plans to test Restrict with a limited number of users in the following weeks. By the end of the year, the company hopes to roll it out to all accounts.
