These days, trolls and bullies are all over social media platforms creating negative and threatening energy on the platform. With an insane hike in such activities, Instagram has come up facilitating users with new options to restrict such accounts.
There are already some effective options for dealing with bullies on Instagram, like flagging content that will be sent to coordinators for review. But in user research, Instagram has found that teenagers are mostly reluctant to report or block peers who bully them. While blocking a bully, cuts down contact and connection between two accounts, which means, a user can no longer monitor what the bully is doing.
The function, restrict is more like a one-way mirror. But what does that means? Let’s understand Instagram Restrict in a better way.
What is Restrict On Instagram?
By restricting any account on Instagram, you can limit their access to your profile and can inhibit their actions on your posts and activities. This means the restricted account will no longer be able to interact with you like an unrestricted account.
The interesting part is that the person won’t be able to know that he/she has been restricted from your end.
Now you must have got clarity on what it means to restrict someone on Instagram, but what does it mean to restrict someone on Instagram?
What does Restrict Do on Instagram?
Well, it’s obvious to someone when they’ve been blocked as they can no longer find that user on the platform, but in the case of restricting someone, it won’t be known by the one that the person is been restricted. They will be able to see that particular user’s posts in their feed as usual. But they will no longer see or check when the user is (was) online or if the messages were being read by them or not.
Moreover, it simply means creating a virtual space between two accounts (individuals) without blocking them completely.
This mode can be activated for specific accounts by swiping left on a comment by that person, this will land you to your privacy settings and then you can activate this feature. You can do the same on the person’s account by simply selecting it under privacy settings.
Restricting someone will make them unable to comment on the posts and also will affect direct messaging. If the person attempts to send a direct message, it will directly move to the message requests section, and notifications won’t be received.
Still, the message can be read and can also be answered from your end, but the restricted accounts will not be able to see your actions (when it’s seen).
How to Restrict on Instagram
The ‘Restrict’ option on Instagram accounts is available to every user. This can be done in two different ways, as mentioned but, we will be explaining detailed steps to make the process easier for you.
Restricting a user directly
1 Open your Instagram account
Open the account that you want the user to be restricted from.
2 Go to their profile
Search the particular account and land to their profile on Instagram.
3 Click on the menu section ‘···’
Click or tap on the button with the three dots at the top-right of their profile.
4 Choose ‘Restrict’ option
Click on the Restrict button mentioned over there.
Now, Instagram will confirm that you have restricted this user with a notification.
Restricting a user through ‘Settings’
1 Go to the ‘Settings’ in your account
Go to your profile first. Now, click on the three horizontal lines (drop-down button) at the top-right.
2 Click on ‘Privacy’ and select ‘Restricted Accounts’
Here you will be able to see the accounts that you restricted from your profile. If not yet, then this section will be empty.
3 Search for the profile you want to restrict from your account
You can search on the available search bar with their name, once got, then press the ‘Restrict’ button to the right of their name.
Wrapping Words
We hope this post has helped you to understand this new feature and has made you familiar with Instagram restrict and use it wisely when needed.
Also, share this article with your contacts and enjoy learning.
