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While Twitter continues to struggle with rampant bullying and abuse, Instagram is instead stepping up its game when it comes to keeping users safe from harm. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing network this week began rolling\u00a0out a new reporting tool <\/a>that lets its users anonymously\u00a0flag friends\u2019 posts about self-harm. This, in turn,\u00a0will prompt a message from Instagram to the user in question, offering support, including tips as well as access to a help line, all of which can be accessed directly in the app itself.<\/p>\n The system itself is fairly simple to use, but addresses a serious need on the social network which continues to have a large teenage <\/a>and young adult audience.<\/p>\n When you see a post where a friend is threatening self-harm or suicide, you may not always feel comfortable broaching the subject with them. Or you may not know what to say. In other cases, you may be following accounts of people you don\u2019t know that well (or at all), and don\u2019t feel it\u2019s your place to speak out.<\/p>\n Instagram is instead offering a different option. By anonymously flagging the post, the friend\u00a0will be sent a support message that reads, \u201cSomeone saw one of your posts and thinks you might be going through a difficult time. If you need support, we\u2019d like to help.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The recipient can then click through to see a list of support options, which includes a suggestion to message or call a friend, access\u00a0more general tips and support or contact a help line \u2014 which will vary as determined by the user\u2019s location.<\/p>\n What\u2019s interesting about Instagram\u2019s tool is that it isn\u2019t only triggered by anonymous reporting. Instagram\u2019s app will also direct users to the support message when they search the service for certain\u00a0hashtags, like the banned search term #thinspo, for example, which is associated with eating disorders.<\/p>\n The move is one of several changes Instagram has made in recent days to limit the abuses on its network. In September, it also made it possible for anyone to filter their comments using customizable\u00a0blocklists <\/a>\u2014\u00a0meaning, they could disallow anyone from posting certain explicit words or bullying terms in their Instagram comments.<\/p>\n Steps like these are critical to establishing the community\u2019s tone. Unregulated free speech can devolve into anonymous bullying \u2014 as is now so prevalent on Twitter that it has at least partially impacted the network\u2019s ability to find an acquirer. (Reportedly, Disney stepped <\/a>away from an acquisition because of this problem.)<\/p>\n Posts about self-harm are a different matter than bullying, of course, but they fall under the broader umbrella of user protection and safety.<\/p>\n They are about establishing a community where it\u2019s safe to share, but also one where certain types of sharing\u00a0can be\u00a0moderated for potential problems \u2014 whether that\u2019s someone posting harmful comments directed at another person, or someone posting harmful comments directed at themselves.<\/p>\n Not having these sorts of limitations and policies in place can lead to dangerous results, especially when networks cater to a younger audience. For instance, the teen QA network became so well-known for bullying back in the day, it ended up being a contributing factor in a series of teen suicides.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Over the years, the major social media companies\u00a0have learned from past tragedies to offer better ways to protect their users. Many partner with support organizations to craft and run PSAs when users search for harmful terms \u2014\u00a0Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram have all done so<\/a>.\u00a0And most today use a combination of automated systems, human moderators and flagging tools to address problems that range from user-led searches for concerning terms and tags (like thinspo or suicide) to prompts\u00a0that are triggered by users\u2019 posts themselves.<\/p>\n Instagram\u2019s new flagging tools are designed after those\u00a0that are already in place on parent company Facebook, and an example of how the smaller network can benefit from the infrastructure Facebook already has in place to address problems related to self-harm.<\/p>\n Last year, Facebook launched an almost identical tool<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 right down to the wording \u2014 for Facebook users in the U.S. And earlier in 2016<\/a>, it rolled this out to international users as well.<\/p>\n![\"gallery-1476388960-instagram-screenshot1-copy\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/474c0_gallery-1476388960-instagram-screenshot1-copy.jpg?resize=640%2C591\")
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