Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Social Media
  3. News

Warning: Tagged Instagram photos go public … head to your privacy settings immediately

Add as a preferred source on Google
Instagram Tagging
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even though Instagram announced its new “Photos of You” feature already, it’s been in a kind of private incubation mode, where you could see how it worked but no one else could actually see the photos people tag of you. So if you tried to humiliate your friends by tagging the most unflattering pictures possible, nobody could see your evil handiwork … until now. As of today, those tagged photos are live. This means that anyone who searches your username will be able to see all the photos tagged of you.

You can exert control, however, by changing your privacy settings so that tagged photos don’t show up in your “Photos of You” section unless you approve them, minimizing the risk of embarrassing yourself on Instagram. Once you change the setting, if someone tags you in a picture, you’ll have the option to show it on your profile or to hide it. You can also remove tagged photos of yourself by tapping your name and choosing the “Remove” option. Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 2.54.26 PM

Recommended Videos

The feature works when you have the most recent version of Instagram for iOS or Android, but it doesn’t work on your desktop, so you have to use a mobile device if you want to tag or approve photos.

Will this new feature be a success or flop harder than a fish on a dock? It definitely encourages more interaction, but Instagram purists may be alarmed by how much closer these tags bring the service to Facebook. People freaking out about the fact that their friends can tag them really don’t need to worry that much; once they change their privacy settings, they’ll be able to make sure nothing bad gets put on their profile, and since you couldn’t control who mentioned you in their photo comments anyways, you’re still going to have roughly the same control over your profile as before. It’s time to accept that Instagram is no longer the intimate service it once was, and get used to untagging stuff — or jump ship to a newer, more private photo-sharing app.

Is that last one you? If you’re over selfies and the onslaught of ads, here’s how to delete your Instagram account.

Kate Knibbs
Former Contributor
Kate Knibbs is a writer from Chicago. She is very happy that her borderline-unhealthy Internet habits are rewarded with a…
Meta’s latest courtroom losses expose a potential hole in social media’s strongest defense
Plaintiffs are treating engagement features as deliberately designed products, an argument that could make Section 230 far less useful
facebook

Two jury losses have given plaintiffs momentum against Meta, but they haven’t rewritten the rules for social media. One case relied on New Mexico consumer-protection laws. The other asked a California jury whether addictive design contributed to a young woman’s mental-health issues.

The verdicts, detailed by The Wall Street Journal, reached Meta through different legal routes. Together, they suggest Section 230 becomes a less dependable shield when a lawsuit centers on choices made by the platform itself.

Read more
Meta AI is moving into your Threads DMs, where awkward AI chats belong
Because not every AI conversation deserves a spot on your followers' timeline.
Meta AI in threads DM

One of the reasons Grok AI became so popular is because it let people chat with it directly on X, resulting in some hilarious conversations. And while the public availability of Grok AI on X has resulted in numerous safety issues, there's no denying that this openness played a major role in its rise. 

It seems Meta wanted the same, which became evident when the company started testing Meta AI directly on Threads a few months ago, letting users chat with it right in their feed. But not everyone was comfortable having those conversations out in the open, so Meta has just moved its Meta AI inside your Threads’ DMs. 

Read more
X Money is finally here, and it’s much more than a digital wallet
The new financial service aims to turn X into an app where users can pay, save, spend, and send money.
X Money featured

Elon Musk's vision of turning X into an "everything app" has taken another major step forward. The company has officially begun rolling out X Money to Premium and Premium+ subscribers in the United States. Rather than being just another digital wallet, X Money is designed as a full-fledged financial hub built directly into the social platform, allowing users to send money, receive payments, hold cash, earn interest, and spend through a Visa debit card—all without leaving the X app.

What is X Money, and who is it for?

Read more