Instagram publishes the new rules: some images will be downgraded. Find out what they are and how to better manage your feed
Instagram becomes stricter towards users who post potentially inappropriate and offensive content. The social network has published new rules in which it explains which are the images that, although not explicitly banned, are disliked by the platform. The downgraded posts are of various types.
For example, they are images that although they do not show nudity, are erotic or sexually explicit. Also under the magnifying glass are photographs that show or reproduce violent, aggressive or shocking acts. These types of posts do not go against the rules of the social network community but certainly could annoy or upset users, especially boys, who currently represent an important group of members. Today, in fact, many Instagram users are underage, not to mention people of all cultures and religions who flock to the application.
New Instagram rules: borderline content
The new Instagram rules make it clear what content, while not openly violating community rules, can cause annoyance, and therefore be inappropriate. Such images will be banned from the social network because they could hurt feelings or otherwise upset users. Everyone has their own sensibilities, beliefs and culture and each person must be protected. With this in mind, the app has published which images are unwelcome. The banned posts can be grouped into three macro-categories: images that depict acts of violence and aggression, others that are related to erotic and sexual themes, and finally those simply labeled as extreme and shocking. In a nutshell, even if they won’t be explicitly banned, they will certainly be shown to a smaller number of users.
What are the consequences?
Leaving the screens will have bad consequences, especially for those who use Instagram as a showcase to convey their artistic creations or provocative photos. The social won’t look anyone in the face: these kinds of images won’t appear in the Explore feed or on pages that embed a particular hashtag. This will seriously affect the visibility of the posts and therefore the acquisition of new followers. A huge help in identifying and limiting inappropriate posts will come from Artificial Intelligence. Will Ruben, Instagram’s Head of Product for Explore said “We’ve started using machine learning to determine if content posted is suitable for recommendation to our community.” According to some rumors, Instagram is developing tags that are used to identify image content and limit its visibility if it contains inappropriate messages. For the moment, Instagram is the only one of the apps that will follow the new rules, but soon they may be extended to Facebook as well.