New 'Comments Moderation' feature will rid your page of Internet warriors

folarin okunola

July 8, 2016 12:36 PM

The feature “Blocks comments with words or phrases often reported as offensive from appearing on your posts.”

Instagram co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom

Comment sections on social media platforms can be some of the most vile places on the Internet, especially if the pages or accounts are owned by celebrities.

Instagram is one of such platforms and over the years we have seen the kinds of abuse certain elements on the Internet are capable of.

Now, Instagram is letting its new business pages take out the crap with a new feature called "Comment Moderation". The feature “Blocks comments with words or phrases often reported as offensive from appearing on your posts.”

Facebook-owned Instagram confirmed to Techcrunch that the feature rolled out on Wednesday and can be found in the settings of accounts that the BusinessPage option turned on.

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The Comments Moderation feature is a kind of a blunt tool in the grand scheme of things. There are many paid third-party social media management suites available that offer much more precise moderation options. Still, by building an idiot-proof native option, Instagram could be making the comments sections a little more easy on the eye.

Brands and advertisers definitely don't want offensive comments polluting their posts. The Comment Moderation feature could let them to post and pay for reach with greater confidence.

All of that aside, for Instagram to maintain its growth milestones behind its 500 monthly and 300 million daily active users, it will need to appeal to a wider audience. Cleaning up its act is very crucial to making this happen.

folarin okunola