How to limit who can contact you on Instagram
Despite being A handy way to chat with friends and family, Instagram direct messages allow virtually anyone to get in touch with you. If you don't want this to happen, however, there are ways to control them.
It also extends to comments and "likes" left on the feed: there are more settings than you can imagine when it comes to managing who is authorized to contact you on Instagram and how you can do it.
Making your account private Instagram allows you to set your account as "private"
Instagram via David Nield If you have a public account, anyone on Instagram can see your posts and stories (unless you've limited the stories to close friends only), or send you a direct message. Furthermore, any user is able to like and comment on the photos or videos in your feed, whether they follow you or not.
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Arrow Switching to a private account will significantly limit your visibility on Instagram. New followers will need to be specifically approved, and only those who follow you will be able to view the photos, videos and stories you post. The same goes for likes or comments on your posts.
Regarding direct messages, however, nothing changes: private profiles - together with their username and profile picture - can still be found through the search. To send a message to an account on Instagram, therefore, all you need to know is its name, regardless of whether it is a private or public account (and whether you follow it or not).
To set your account as private , from the Instagram app, tap your profile icon (bottom right) and then the menu button (the three dashes at the top right). From here select Settings and Privacy; you will see the Private Account switch at the top of the menu: turn it on to change your account status.
Protecting your DMs The options for Instagram message requests
Instagram via David Nield By opening the messages section (the paper airplane icon at the top right) in the Instagram app on your smartphone, you will see messages sent by people you follow or have added to your close friends list. Messages from other users are grouped under the Requests tab.
From here you can see messages from people you are not connected to. You have three options: Accept (which will cause future messages sent by this person to go straight to the main mailbox), Delete the message, or Block the user (which in turn will also delete the message). We will return to the blocking function later.
This is the default way messages sent to your mailbox are handled. To change it, open the Settings screen again within the Instagram app, select Privacy and then Messages. From here you can decide whether the messages of users you do not follow must end up in the Requests tab or if you do not want to view them completely, diversifying the settings according to whether the user in question follows you or not.
With the another setting on this screen you can decide whether or not to be added to group chats on Instagram by users with whom you are not connected. By default, anyone on the app can add you to a group chat, but you can change this setting to allow only the people you follow.
Restricting comments and mentions Instagram allows you to limit unwanted interactions
Instagram via David Nield Instagram grants some control over who can comment and like the photos and videos you post on your feed. From Settings, select Privacy and Comments; from this section you can decide who will be able to comment on your content: everyone, people you follow, people who follow you, or people who follow or who follow you. It is also possible to prevent specific users from leaving comments.
A set of similar options is available under Mentions, in the Privacy menu. This is the section where you can decide if mentions on Instagram (the @ symbol followed by your username) can be left by Everyone, by People you follow or by Nobody. Mentions can be left in Stories, Comments, Live Videos, and Captions.
Instagram doesn't offer a way to stop someone from liking your posts, unless you completely block it. user. You can, however, hide the likes left under your posts from other people. When creating a post, select Advanced Settings on the final screen before uploading, then turn on the Hide the number of likes and views on this post switch.
Finally, you can select Restrictions from the Privacy menu to temporarily block unwanted comments and messages from certain groups, in particular, from people who do not follow you or who have recently started following you. Instagram claims that the purpose of the feature is to help users avoid harassment. The block can be applied for up to four weeks.
Blocking and restricting users It is also possible to block or restrict individual users
Instagram via David NieldIf there are specific users on Instagram with you would rather not have interactions, you can block or limit them. The easiest way to find these options is to go to the person's profile, tap the three dots (top right) and then choose Apply Restrictions or Block. These options are also available in other sections of the Instagram interface.
WiredLeaks, how to send us an anonymous report By applying the restrictions, another user will not be able to see when you are online or whether or not you have read the his messages. New comments to your posts will only be visible to you and will need to be manually approved before they are visible to anyone else. You will not receive notifications for comments from the user in question.
Blocking takes everything to the next level. Blocked users will not be able to mention, tag you or leave likes or comments on your posts (any previous likes or comments will be removed). They won't even be able to text you - and vice versa - although previous chats will remain in your inbox unless you delete them. While users will not be notified if you decide to limit or block them, they may notice that they can no longer contact you.
Instagram also offers an option to mute the users you follow. To activate it, from the profile of the person in question select Follow already and then Silence. This will prevent this user's posts or stories (or both) from appearing in your feeds - the perfect option for people who share more content than you can follow, but don't want to disconnect from.
This article originally appeared on sportsgaming.win US.
