The social media site just introduced a new tool called “Restrict,” which will allow users to secretly hide certain commenters from their account. When that person is restricted, all of their future comments to that account won’t be visible to the public, and the poster won’t even know it. In fact, while the troll will still see their comment, they won’t realize it’s invisible to anyone else looking at that page.
Here’s how it works:
- A user finds the comment the bully left on their photo.
- They can then swipe left on the comment to “restrict” the person.
- The restricted person won’t be notified that they’ve been hidden, and can continue to post but only they will see it.
- "We've heard from young people in our community that they're reluctant to block, unfollow, or report their bully because it could escalate the situation, especially if they interact with their bully in real life," Instagram says. "We wanted to create a feature that allows people to control their Instagram experience, without notifying someone who may be targeting them."
I find this hysterical! I imagine the bully sending off their hate filled comment and waiting to see who says what. Then....nothing. They can't believe it so they ramp it up and still nothing. They can see their vile comment and other people just ignoring it. People engage with the friendly comment but not theirs. Perhaps some of them will change their on line demeanor to see if they can get the attention they crave with nice words. Wouldn't that be sweet?