Instagram is adding a feature that will ask users to remain respectful when it detects a potentially offensive reply, as well as when users send a message request to creators. The company hopes this will reduce abuse on the platform.

Instagram Adds Kindness Nudges

Cyberbullying and harassment remain a problem on many social media platforms. As a result, Instagram has announced a range of measures to curb abuse on its platform.

In an Instagram Blog post on 20 October 2022, the company said that it's expanding its use of nudges. This follows the initial introduction of nudges in 2021.

Previously, the platform has shown warnings if a user attempts to post a comment that may go against its community guidelines. Instagram says that these nudges can reduce the number of hurtful remarks on the platform, which is why it's expanding the feature.

Instagram notes in its blog post:

Now, a new notification will encourage people to pause and consider how they want to respond before replying to a comment that our systems tell us could be offensive.

The new nudges will ask users to keep Instagram a supportive place. These nudges will appear in comment replies and when a user sends a message request to a creator.

The nudges for comment replies are now available for users who have set their app language to English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, or Arabic. The nudges for messaging creators will roll out over the next few weeks and will be available globally.

Instagram says that it will continue to work on ways to reduce abuse on the app. It's not the only social media company to introduce these types of nudges, with Twitter expanding its mean tweets prompt in 2021. Twitter said that its test of the prompt in 2020 found that a significant number of users revised or deleted their tweets when seeing the notification.

Instagram Continues Work to Curb Abuse

The new prompts may prove to be effective if Twitter's data is anything to go by. However, the platform will need to continue its work to combat harassment and abuse if it wants to create a safer environment for users.