If you’ve ummed and ahhed over setting up an Instagram account, fretting that you might incur negative feedback and spammy comments, you can finally put those thoughts to bed. The popular social media network has once again rolled out another update, this time adopting some of Facebook’s favourite features. Now, Instagram users can ‘like’ other people’s comments, remove followers, and switch off comments for individual posts.

This is great news for businesses looking to generate some healthy exposure on one of the world’s most popular digital platforms. By blocking abusive comments or limiting those who can view posts, Instagrammers now have much more control over their accounts and the way their business is represented online.

So how do these new features work…

Once users have updated their Insta accounts, they are free to enjoy the fresh new functions introduced by the social media giant as outlined below:

• How to ‘like’ comments. This is an easy one, and a great way to encourage consumers to start following you. In the past, businesses have commonly started following other users as a way to prick their attention and hopefully get a ‘follow-back’. Now, these kinds of goals can be achieved in a much subtler and more genuine way: when you expand the comments section in your feed, you will notice a greyed-out heart icon next to each comment, which you can simply tap to signify that you ‘like’ a user’s comment.

Image source: Wired

• How to turn off comments. Disabling comments on your posts is a big thing for protecting your business against internet trolls, and can be achieved either prior to posting or afterwards. To do so beforehand, all you have to do is upload your photo or video as you normally would and proceed to the final share page. Under the list of external platforms, you will see an ‘Advanced sharing’ option – simply tap this and select ‘Turn off comments’. If, on the other hand, you decide in retrospect that you would like to switch off comments on certain posts that have already been uploaded, simply find the post in your feed and tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner. Here, select the ‘Advanced sharing’ option and toggle the feature off.

Image source: Wired

• How to remove followers. Got a pesky Instagram user constantly trolling your posts? Now you can get rid of them – as long as you have a private account. You can easily switch your account from public to private by clicking the cog icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen and tapping ‘Private account’. Once you have ensured your account is private, you can remove certain followers by entering your ‘Followers’ list and selecting the three dots next to a user’s name. Here, a pop-up will appear: simple select ‘Remove’.

Image source: Wired

The latest features are being rolled out across the platform this week, so get on-board and boost your business’s brand rep just in time for Christmas.