Instagram – as we all know – can be a place for sharing and a very powerful tool, but it can sometimes be dangerous for our mental health . On social networks we tell who we are, put our talent to the test, create communities or simply have fun following the profiles we think are most captivating.

However, it can often happen that we stumble upon unpleasant comments, hashtags that we do not like or discussions that we would not have liked to face. A pity, given that Instagram could turn into a place where we feel safe and find support even in emotionally difficult moments.

At least once, you may have felt sad about a problem – love or work – and have found comfort in recounting (or hearing about) a similar discomfort from someone else on the platform. It is something precious that it is essential to take care of and not lose. How? Making Instagram a safe and pleasant area in which to talk in peace, show one’s existence and discuss anything without feeling judged in any way.

8 Current Instagram Tools To Protect Ourselves

The platform has decided to include some new functions designed for everyone’s mental well-being. So smartphone in hand, the time has come to try out the features to better enjoy Instagram, without any more worries.

1. Report Inappropriate Content

Instagram is a large community where everyone has to abide by the rules. If an account or content makes you uncomfortable and you feel it’s inappropriate or offensive to someone, you can take action right away. Enter Settings, then click Assistance, Request Assistance and go to Reports. The reported person will not know who the report comes from.

2. Discreetly Unfollow People You Don’t Want To Follow Anymore

Everyone has ever wanted to unfollow (or even worse block) an unwanted account . Someone of whom, perhaps, you had become a follower with great enthusiasm. Over time, however, you no longer liked its contents and now you don’t know how to do it.

You don’t want to see them anymore, but you fear that blocking it or unfollowing it could be rude (or trigger a terrible shit storm). What to do? The Restrictions feature is for you. In fact, it allows you to “keep a distance” an account without its owner noticing. Access the Settings, then click on Privacy and on Restricted accounts and that’s it!

3. Don’t Measure Your Worth With Likes Anymore

Likes on photos and videos often create an excessive sense of expectation. We are afraid to upload a video or a photo because we are afraid that there are too few likes and we end up considering our value linked precisely to those little hearts. But now it’s time to stop! The importance you give yourself does not depend on the number of Likes, but on something else. So free yourself from this mental burden and set your post free with a new Instagram feature. Hide Likes in the Feed by entering the Privacy section and Post.

4. Make Room For Positivity

Preserving mental health on Instagram is essential and to do so, giving space to positivity is a must. Give the right space and amplify the positive comments, creating an energy that will be good for everyone. How? Use the feature called “Pin Your Favorite Comments Up”. It will allow you to choose the tone you prefer for your profile, bringing up comments with positive vibes , or those that enrich the debate in a productive way.

5. Set Hidden Words

Instagram allows its users to automatically hide offensive comments . How? Indicating a – super personalized – list of emojis , words or phrases that are considered offensive. In this way, all comments containing these elements will be automatically hidden from both you and your followers. To activate this function go to Settings, Privacy and click on Hidden Words. At that point, all you have to do is create your list.

6. Choose Who Can Tag You

The wild tag on Instagram can be really annoying, but finally there is a solution. In fact, the platform has decided to provide a way to manage mentions and tags. Go to “Settings”, click on “Privacy” then on “Posts/mentions”. This way you will have the possibility to choose who can tag you or not . Wonderful, right?

7. Limit Visibility Of People You Don’t Follow

On social networks, and especially on Instagram, there are probably our friends and family, but in reality we mostly interact with profiles of people who are not part of our real life. This can lead to a nice exchange, but it can also lead to some unpleasant interactions.

Has that account recently started following you or is it commenting on your posts without following you? You can control its actions (and limit them) very easily! Enter the section called Settings, then go to Privacy and Restrictions.

8. Ask For Help

Are you experiencing a complicated moment and don’t know what to do? You can request concrete help from Instagram resources. A service that brings together experts, communities and organizations that can help you deal with your social experience in a different way, making the most of what is positive about Instagram.