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Instagram introduces pinned comments to better moderate threads

Allison Matyus
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You can now pin up to three comments on an Instagram post to better control the overall tone of your post’s comment thread. 

Instagram announced the official rollout of the new update on Tuesday. The feature was initially announced in May as part of a broader response to fight online bullying. 

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The comment section of Instagram posts can often be a place where online trolls and cyberbullies thrive. By giving the user more control over what type of comments people see first, Instagram hopes it will limit online harassment. 

To use the new feature, simply swipe right on the comment(s) you want to pin and click on the pin icon. The person who commented will be notified that you pinned their comment. 

Today we’re rolling out pinned comments everywhere. ????

That means you can a pin a few comments to the top of your feed post and better manage the conversation. pic.twitter.com/iPCMJVLxMh

— Instagram (@instagram) July 7, 2020

Instagram has been implementing more and more moderation tools to its users recently that further help combat online bullying. Some of these moderation features include allowing users to choose who is allowed to tag them in posts and allowing users to manage comments by adding the ability to delete multiple comments at once. 

The photo-sharing platform also implemented an A.I.-powered feature last year that automatically detects potentially nasty content and asks the offending user if they still want to post it. The warning aims to stop negativity before it ever gets published. 

Bullying is a particular problem among younger people on Instagram. A 2017 study found that 17% of teens are bullied online, and much of that cyberbullying happens on Instagram. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri acknowledged that it’s an ongoing problem, and previously said that the platform is trying to do more to empower the targets of bullying to stand up for themselves.

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Allison Matyus
Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
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