This new feature would make comments from such bullies invisible to everyone else, making them shout into a void without any notifications that they are just making noise and no one's hearing.
The term 'shadow ban' refers to the practice of softly silencing posters that many heavy users of the platform accuse Instagram of engaging in.
In this essence, a person is removed from the community without being notified. Instagram creators believe that the app does this for perceived infractions against the TOS that don't necessarily rise to the level of an outright ban, pointing to notable declines in their reach after controversial posts. Instagram however denies doing this.
“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 head, Adam Mosseri said.
Some of these actions also make it difficult for a target to keep track of their bully’s behavior.”
Subsequently, Instagram has unveiled an automated feature that would encourage users to stop and think before making hurtful comments.
Comments which are flagged by the app while the user is posting them will cause a pop-up that encourages them to 'keep Instagram a supportive place.'
Instagram says that tests of this feature showed that moment of self-reflection to be effective. 'From early tests of this feature, we have found that it encourages some people to undo their comment and share something less hurtful once they have had a chance to reflect,' Mosseri said.
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