Posts Tagged: Instagram
Anti-trans hate is ‘widespread’ on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, report warns
Meta is failing to enforce its own rules against anti-trans hate speech on its platform, a new report from GLAAD warns. The LGBTQ advocacy group found that “extreme anti-trans hate content remains widespread across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.”
The report documents dozens of examples of hate speech from Meta’s apps, which GLAAD says were reported to the company between June 2023 and March 2024. But though the posts appeared to be clear violations of the company’s policies, “Meta either replied that posts were not violative or simply did not take action on them,” GLAAD says.
The reported content included posts with anti-trans slurs, violent and dehumanizing language and promotions for conversion therapy, all of which are barred under Meta’s rules. GLAAD also notes that some of the posts it reported came from influential accounts with large audiences on Facebook and Instagram. GLAAD also shared two examples of posts from Threads, Meta’s newest app where the company has tried to tamp down “political” content and other “potentially sensitive” topics.
“The company’s ongoing failure to enforce their own policies against anti-LGBTQ, and especially anti-trans hate, is simply unacceptable,” GLAAD’s CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But GLAAD’s report isn’t the first time the company has faced criticism for its handling of content targeting the LGBTQ community. Last year the Oversight Board urged Meta to “improve the accuracy of its enforcement on hate speech towards the LGBTQIA+ community.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anti-trans-hate-is-widespread-on-facebook-instagram-and-threads-report-warns-215538151.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Instagram is making it easier to remove spammy followers
Meta is rolling out a suite of new tools on Instagram that give users more control over how much spam content and bots they will see on their feeds. People will also be told if something they posted is in accordance with community guidelines. The new tools will be introduced gradually in the coming weeks.
Instagram has developed and improved its automated detection system that checks for spam across comments, tags, story views and followers. The moderation systems will flag fake followers and spam-filled content and give users the option to delete those items in bulk to save users time. Any suspected spam or bot account will get filtered into a separate inbox for you to review, and if an account isn’t spam, you can approve a request and they’ll be added to your following list. Otherwise, all accounts will be automatically removed after 30 days. Posts by profiles that get tagged as spam won't appear on the content creators’ accounts unless they get approved. An account holder can view, bulk delete or approve any tag requests flagged by the system.
Instagram will also send in-app notifications if it detects posts that violate its content policies. This follows Instagram’s most recent update that shows when posts are blocked from appearing on the Explore page, which should stop account holders from repeating those mistakes. For Stories though, Instagram said it is still experimenting with hiding views from accounts that the platform deems as spam.
The company already introduced the "Hidden Words" tool in 2021, which hides messages with questionable keywords. In the coming update, Instagram said it will start to edit out suspected spam through the advanced comment filtering tool. The issue of harassment and spam has long been a focal point for Instagram. It has had to deal with bots storming the platform and proliferating sexually explicit content. However, the company needs to strike a balance between policing inappropriate content and allowing for the free exchange of ideas on its platform. Recently, Instagram has faced scrutiny for allegedly censoring pro-Palestinian content amid the ongoing war in the Gaza.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-is-making-it-easier-to-remove-spammy-followers-021801458.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
You can now limit Instagram posts and Reels to Close Friends
Instagram is expanding its Close Friends feature from Stories and Notes to feed posts and Reels. As such, you'll be able to share Reels and feed posts with a smaller, perhaps more trusted audience instead of everyone who follows you.
The Instagram team says folks use Close Friends "as a pressure-free space to connect with the people that matter most." By expanding the Close Friends option to Reels and feed posts, the developers hope you'll have "more ways to be your most authentic self on Instagram while having more choices over who sees your content."
Sharing a Reel or feed post only with Close Friends is pretty straightforward. When you're creating one, hit the Audience button, select Close Friends and then tap Share. The post or Reel will have a green star label, so those on your Close Friends list who see it will know they're part of an exclusive club. To highlight the expansion of the feature, you might see the app's plus button turn into a green star icon today.
It's worth noting that the Close Friends list will be the same group of people across all Instagram features. However, Instagram has been looking at other ways for everyone to share things with smaller audiences. Last month, Instagram head Adam Mosseri revealed that his team was experimenting with a way to let users share Stories with different subsets of followers. Facebook users have long been able to set up many different lists of friends and choose which one to share a post with.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-now-limit-instagram-posts-and-reels-to-close-friends-181123680.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
You should probably stay away from the Instagram Wrapped app
An app called Wrapped for Instagram has been making waves lately. But is it safe to use, or is it a scam? Here’s what you need to know.
Digital Trends
Instagram head says Threads is working on an API for developers
Threads was missing a lot of features users would expect from a service similar to Twitter’s (now X’s) when it launched. Over the past few months, however, it has been been rolling out more and more new features to give users a more robust experience, including polls, an easy way to post GIFs and the ability to quote posts on the web. Still, since it doesn’t have an API, third-party developers can’t conjure features specific to their services that would make the social network a more integral part of people’s everyday lives. An example of that is local transportation agencies being able to automatically post service alerts when a train is delayed. According to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, though, Threads is working on an API for developers — he just has concerns about how it’s going to be used.
As first reported by TechCrunch, Mosseri responded to a conversation on the platform about having a TweetDeck-like experience for Threads. In a response to a user saying that Threads has no API yet, the executive said: “We’re working on it.” He added that he’s concerned that the API’s launch could mean “a lot more publisher content and not much more creator content,” but he’s aware that it “seems like something [the company needs] to get done.”
Mosseri previously said that Threads won’t amplify news, which may have been disappointing to hear for publishers and readers looking to leave X. Instead, he said, Threads wants to “empower creators in general.” More recently, in an AMA he posted on the platform, Mosseri said that that his team’s long-term aspiration is for Threads to become “the de facto platform for public conversations online,” which means being both culturally relevant and big in terms of user size. He said he believes Threads has a chance of surpassing X, but he knows that his service has a long way to go. For now, he keeps his team focused on making people’s experience better week by week.
Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Threads has “just under” 100 million monthly active users. Like Mosseri, he is optimistic about its future and said that there’s a “good chance” it could reach 1 billion users over the next couple of years.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-head-says-threads-is-working-on-an-api-for-developers-140049094.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Facebook and Instagram may offer paid, ad-free plans in Europe to sate EU privacy concerns
Meta may add a paid subscription option to Instagram and Facebook in Europe, according toThe New York Times. The ad-free tier is meant to address European Union (EU) regulations that have diminished some of Meta’s most lucrative data-collection methods. The company said in April that advertising in the EU made up 10 percent of the company’s total revenue.
The move would be the first time Meta has deviated from its standard model of a single free platform supported by advertising (and associated data collection). The NYT says the company would continue offering free ad-supported versions of Facebook and Instagram in the EU. It’s unknown exactly when the company would launch the ad-free tiers or how much they would cost.
Company “insiders” cited by the NYT believe offering a paid ad-free variant could help “alleviate some European regulators’ concerns,” even if few people use it. The optional tier “could serve Meta’s interests in the region,” they added.
An ad-free option for European users would mark one of the most significant splits between consumer tech in the EU and the US. Meta and other social platforms have been forced to adapt as the GDPR and other regulations take hold. The EU fined Meta €1.2 billion in May for moving EU citizen’s data to US-based servers. In addition, the company was fined €265 million in 2022 for failing to prevent millions of Facebook users’ mobile numbers (and other data) from being scraped and posted online.
“This shows that tech companies are complying with the E.U.’s digital regulations, suggesting that they remain beholden to governments and not the other way around,” Columbia University law professor Anu Bradford told The New York Times.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-and-instagram-may-offer-paid-ad-free-plans-in-europe-to-sate-eu-privacy-concerns-190926273.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
How to get verified on Instagram Threads
Instagram Threads is Instagram’s answer to Twitter. It has many of the same features, including a verified badge. Here’s how to get one for yourself!
Digital Trends
Instagram finally lets you add multiple links to bio
Instagram has finally relented and now allows you to add more than one link to your profile page. Instagram’s boss said: “Sorry it took so long.”
Digital Trends
Instagram 2022 recap: how to make your end-of-year Reel
Instagram added a Recap Reel template for users to share their favorite moments from 2022. Here’s how to access it.
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Instagram will test extra-tall photos to go along with Reels
Instagram will soon allow users to post 9:16 photos to their feed as part of a test the company plans to undertake “in a week or two.” The tidbit of news came out of Adam Mosseri’s weekly Q&A. “You can have tall videos, but you cannot have tall photos on Instagram,” the executive said. “So we thought maybe we should make sure that we treat both equally.”
While it’s already possible to share 9:16 photos through Instagram, you have to do so through the app’s Stories feature, meaning those images will disappear unless you save them as a Highlight. Currently, vertical photos you post to your feed will top out at 8:10 as long as you crop them correctly.
It's been a busy week at Instagram. I'm doing an AMA shortly – https://t.co/aM4JODvskg – like I do every Friday. Ask a question there and I'll do my best to answer it.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 29, 2022
The timing of the test comes after Mosseri recently announced Instagram would walk back its unpopular full-screen interface. The company had been testing the redesign since mid-June, only to find that most people didn’t like it. “For the new feed designs, people are frustrated and the usage data isn’t great,” Mosseri told Platformer last week. Among the most vocal detractors of the redesign were photographers who found the new interface would overlay captions on top of their images, obscuring part of their work in the process. Instagram’s latest test would suggest the company still intends to move towards a more TikTok-like experience.
How Google plans to improve video capturing on Snapchat, Instagram
Google plans to improve the video recording-experience on third-party Android apps such as Instagram, Snapchat with enhancements to the CameraX Jetpack library.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Instagram test lets you pin particular posts to your profile
Instagram is testing a new feature for its app that would let people pin particular posts above the grid on their profile page.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Instagram is testing pinned posts for profiles
For a while now, Instagram has allowed you to pin your favorite Stories to the top of your profile as a way to save them beyond their expiry date. And the company may soon allow you to do the same with posts to ensure they stand out in their own way.
As noted by TechCrunch, Instagram recently began testing a feature that allows users to highlight specific posts above their photo grid. If you’re among the people the company has enrolled in the trial, you can access the feature by tapping the three dots icon at the top of a post and selecting the new “pin to your profile” option. “We’re testing a new feature that lets people feature posts on their profile,” Instagram told the outlet.
Evidence the company was considering adding a way to highlight regular posts was first spotted in January by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi. A handful of other social media platforms – including Twitter and TikTok – allow you to highlight posts in much the same way. As you can imagine, it’s a feature that’s particularly helpful for people who post a lot and want to showcase their best work.
#Instagram is working on the ability to pin posts in your profile 👀 pic.twitter.com/MkQhAXCBp6
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) January 29, 2022
Instagram tests subscriptions for creators to make cash
Instagram has started testing subscriptions to enable popular creators to monetize their output through exclusive content.
Mobile | Digital Trends
How to repost on Instagram
There’s no official way to repost someone else’s content on Instagram, but there are a few basic workarounds.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Instagram to reinstate a feature that everyone misses
Instagram says it’s planning to reinstate a feature it ditched five years ago that lets you view posts in chronological order.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Instagram is testing in-app notifications for service outages
One week after a massive Facebook outage that took all of the social network’s apps offline for more than six hours, Instagram says it’s testing notifications that will alert users to “temporary issues” like outages or other technical issues.
The new alerts would appear in users’ Activity Feed, alongside other in-app notifications. The messages could be used to let users know about specific issues, like Story uploads not working, or a more widespread problem, like the two outages last week. Importantly, Instagram says it doesn’t plan to alert users to every issue, but ones that may be a source of widespread confusion.
“We won’t send a notification every single time there is an outage, but when we see that people are confused and looking for answers, we’ll determine if something like this could help make things clearer,” Instagram wrote in a blog post. The company added that it’s testing the feature in the US “for the next few months.”
Separately, Instagram also showed off a new “account status” section of its app, which is meant to alert users to “what's going on with your account” more generally. Instagram says it’s starting with notifications about posts that are removed and when an account “is at risk of being disabled” due to rule violations.
According to Instagram, the feature is meant to make it easier for users to understand why a post may have been removed, and whether or not they may be in danger of losing an account altogether. While the app has notified users in the past when a post is labeled or removed, the company hasn’t always done a good job letting people know which policy they violated. The Oversight Board has repeatedly told Facebook it needs to do a better job at explaining rules to users, and account status could help them do just that.
Account status could also help the app address a more Instagram-specific issue: concerns over “shadowbanning.” Instagram says that “in the coming months” it plans to update account status to let people know “how their content is being distributed and recommended across different parts of Instagram.”
Instagram will encourage teens to ‘take a break’
Facebook is trying to mend its reputation in the wake of whisleblower Frances Haugen's testimony, and that includes promises of features lessening the potential harm for teens. CNN and Reuters report that Facebook Global Affairs VP Nick Clegg promised Instagram would introduce a "take a break" feature that encouraged teens to simply stop using the social network for a while. Clegg didn't say when it would be ready, but this was clearly meant to reduce addiction and other unhealthy behavior.
The social media exec also said Facebook would "nudge" teens away from material in its apps that "may not be conducive to their well-being." He didn't provide specifics for this new approach. He did, however, suggest that Facebook's algorithms should be "held to account," including by regulation if needed, to be sure real-world results matched intentions.
The new methods might address some of Haugen's concerns. She claimed Facebook was aware its algorithms were destructive, leading children to harmful material and removing only a fraction of hate speech. Haugen also felt Congress should reform the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 to increase Facebook's liability for algorithm-chosen content, and that Facebook should add friction to reduce the virality of content and force users to think about posts rather than share them reflexively.
At the same time, this might not satisfy Haugen and fellow critics. Breaks and nudges may reduce exposure to harmful content, but they won't remove the content in question. Clegg's statements also reflect a familiar strategy at Facebook. It likes to invite regulation, but only the regulation it's comfortable with. While the proposed changes could help, politicians may demand more — in part to prevent Facebook from dictating its own regulation.
Instagram back up after second major outage of the week
Just a few days after a global Facebook outage, Instagram went down for over two hours due to a different technical issue.
Mobile | Digital Trends
[Download] The 2MB Instagram Lite is the debloated Insta experience you need on your smartphone
Bloat. It’s a word that applies to so many apps that we use on our phones and tablets. Once an app becomes popular the developer tends to add new features in an attempt to keep it fresh and they just don’t know when to stop. Take Instagram for instance, it’s a bloated mess of an […]
Come comment on this article: [Download] The 2MB Instagram Lite is the debloated Insta experience you need on your smartphone
It’s time to find out what your Top Nine Instagram posts of 2020 are
It’s that time of year where we think of how the year went, where you get to find out what your Top Nine Instagram posts are of 2020. Yup, just like the influencers and celebrities that you follow, you can find out which nine posts are your most popular of 2020, and then post a […]
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Vanish Mode brings disappearing messages to Messenger and Instagram chat
There is no love lost in the messaging app world when it comes to taking ‘inspiration’ from a competitor’s app, and with Facebook owning a few of the most popular options, it tends to bring its new features to a bunch at a time. Take Messenger and Instagram, for example, which now share the same […]
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A decade in, Instagram is bigger than ever. So are its problems.
When Instagram first launched a decade ago, it was nothing like Facebook. The app, which began as a Foursquare-like check-in network, had one purpose: to make photo sharing easy (and make those pictures prettier in the process). It’s easy to forget n…
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Instagram cracks down on app that snoops on private profiles
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Instagram tests Group Stories after Facebook ditched them
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Facebook reaches settlement with company selling fake Instagram likes
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Instagram tests easier ways to recover hacked accounts
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Instagram makes it easy to add song lyrics to your Stories
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Facebook wants to integrate messaging from Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger
Facebook has made many major acquisitions over the years, with Instagram and WhatsApp being two of the most notable integrations. Up to this point, though, all of those services and platforms have been almost totally separate, but it looks like that might be changing in the future. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wants to have users from […]
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The Morning After: Instagram experiments with our swipes
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Facebook tests tracking Location History via Instagram
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Instagram adopts a new Focus feature to improve your portrait photos
Instagram has announced a new feature to help you quickly take excellent photos of yourself or the people around you, emulating the portrait mode that we’re seeing on most new smartphones. The feature is called Focus and gives your shots a professional, softly blurred look and makes them quick and easy to share. If you’ve […]
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You will soon be able to download your photos and videos directly from Instagram
One of the great frustrations about Instagram is the inability to download the photos and videos (or any other information) you’ve uploaded to the social media app. Unlike Facebook with its Download Your Information tool, Instagram doesn’t have that option unless you are willing to use a third-party app, although this could be about to […]
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BlackBerry targets Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for patent infringement
BlackBerry Ltd. filed a lawsuit in US Federal Court on Tuesday that accused tech giants Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp of stealing intellectual property from BlackBerry Messenger. The 117-page lawsuit claims that the three companies created applications that infringe on BlackBerry Messenger patents and a jury trial has been requested. Financial compensation is being sought, but […]
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Hackers tried selling celebrity info stolen from Instagram
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Instagram will make stickers out of the photos in your conversations
Instagram wants to add some flair to your private messages, and they’re doing that with more stickers. Instead of normal stickers, though, Instagram will stickerfy whatever image you’re replying to. If a friend sends you a reshared post in Direct, whenever you reply to the image you’ll have a sticker version of the original image […]
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Instagram adds photo and video replies to Stories
Instagram's ephemeral Stories has been around for less than a year, but it's already beaten Snapchat at its own game. Today, the photo-sharing network is taking yet another swing at its rival with a new feature that lets you reply to Stories with a p…
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Nike will also sell sneakers on Instagram
Turns out Nike will soon start selling sneakers and other sporting goods not only on Amazon, but also on Instagram. Nike CEO Mark Parker has revealed during the brand's Q4 earnings call that the company will sell goods directly on both platforms, tho…
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Instagram introduces face filters complete with koala ears and crowns
If you’ve been craving animal ears and crowns for your Instagram selfies, the Facebook-owned company is here to save the day as their newest update brings face filters and more to the platform. Join us after the break for the details. In a not-so-subtle jab at Snapchat, Instagram’s face filters will work with both the front […]
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FDA: Stop buying miracle cancer drugs on Instagram
The FDA has issued a warning to social media users not to be taken in by miracle cures hawked on the internet. The agency found 14 companies that made fraudulent, outrageous claims about the power of their medicines on platforms like Facebook and Ins…
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Instagram will start blurring ‘sensitive’ photos in your feed
In recent months, Instagram has taken some long-overdue steps to reduce abuse on its platform and generally make the experience better and safer for all users. Today, the company has announced another change in line with those goals. When you're brow…
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Instagram nabs 400 million daily active users less than a year since its previous milestone
Instagram now has 400 million daily active users. The photo-sharing app’s unabated growth has seen it add an extra 100 million new daily users to its already impressive tally in just over seven months.
The post Instagram nabs 400 million daily active users less than a year since its previous milestone appeared first on Digital Trends.
Instagram now lets you save your edited photos as drafts
Like to jazz up your Instagram pics before sharing them? Then you’ll love the app’s latest feature, which allows you to save your edited photos as drafts. In testing since July, the feature is now officially available to everyone.
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Weekly Rewind: Stainless clothing, an Instagram flaw, the Stones vs. Trump
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on, in fact, that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories.
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Are your Instagram comments not showing up? You’re not alone
Comments aren’t showing up for some Instagram users. Here’s everything we know about the issue and if it’s going to be fixed.
Digital Trends