Instagram is rolling out several new features for users around the world. The Meta-owned social media platform announced three new features for Notes to make it easier to publish new posts and connect with friends. It has also introduced a Limit Interactions feature that allows users to not receive messages, comments and tags from followers who are not added as close friends. The platform said this feature was designed to protect teens from potential abusers and stalkers. Notably, Threads also received a TweetDeck-style view for its desktop app.
Instagram introduces new features for Notes
The Notes feature was launched in December 2022 on Instagram as a new way to share thoughts with friends. The feature exists in the Direct Messages (DM) section at the top of all messages. Users can post their own short messages and read their friends' messages in this section.
On Thursday, the social media platform added three new ways for people to interact with the feature. The first is the notes message. Users will see questions and thoughts posted when they enter Notes, and can post their Notes in response to questions. Instagram is also rolling out Quick Likes for Notes. Users will be able to quickly react to their friends' and followers' notes by liking them by double-tapping the note.
Finally, users can now tag followers in notes by using the '@' symbol before their username. Users who are mentioned in a note will also receive a note notification that they can tap to reply directly to. Instagram says these new ways of interacting will make it “easier to express yourself, spark conversations, and connect with friends!”
Limiting interactions on Instagram
The social media platform has also introduced a security feature to protect users from potential cases of harassment and trolling. Called Limit Interactions, this feature will allow users to not receive direct messages, post comments or tags from certain users. This feature can be set for a temporary period between one day and up to four weeks.
Users can limit their interactions to close friends or simply pause them for followers and recent accounts that don't follow them. Highlighting the feature in a post, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said it can help a soccer player who just missed a penalty kick avoid bullying or protect a teenager from online bullying.
To enable the feature, users will need to go to Configuration and activity > Limit interactions. There, users will find options to choose whether the aforementioned will be limited or only new comments on posts and chats will be hidden from them, who to limit and how long.
