Major change in the Instagram of Australians
On Friday, Instagram launched “silent mode,” an app setting that hides notifications for a user-chosen period of time.
The new notification development was set up to allow people to “set healthy boundaries” with their friends online, by silencing messages, likes, follows and other notifications.
“Today we’re launching ‘Quiet Mode’ to help people focus and encourage them to set boundaries with their friends and followers,” Instagram announced.
“Once enabled, you won’t receive any notifications, your profile activity status will change to ‘silent’, and we’ll automatically send an auto-reply when someone DMs you.”
Users can set their silent mode time themselves, and if someone sends them a message during this time, the sender will receive a notification that the other person is silent and will not receive a notification.
Instagram said teens have told them they feel the need to be available all the time, so the app will now prompt their younger users to turn on silent mode after spending some time on the app. night.
Along with the new silence setting, Instagram is letting users personalize their experiences on the app with a new setting that allows them to hide recommended posts that include certain words, emojis, or hashtags in the caption.
Previously, the tool was used to exclude comments and posts containing words deemed inappropriate by the user, but it will now also extend to posts that appear on their feed.
Users now also have the option to select a “not interested” option on suggested posts, and the app will avoid displaying similar content.
Parents can sleep easier at night, with new parental controls allowing them to see their child’s Instagram settings, including default privacy and content settings.
They will also now receive notifications when their child updates a setting or blocks a user.
Instagram said the new features complement existing tools already in place and reflect their “ongoing work to build meaningful things for young people”.
Quiet Mode will be available to everyone in Australia and New Zealand, the US, UK, Ireland and Canada on Friday, and Instagram hopes to roll it out to other countries soon.
