Well-being tools
We know people want to be able to control their experience on social media in a way that works for them and supports their well-being. That’s why we’ve rolled out features that let people manage their time, prevent unwanted interactions and control what type of content and accounts they see. Here you will find more information on how to activate and use these tools.
Take a break
We now give people on Instagram the option to turn on ‘break reminders’ so they can remind themselves when they’ve spent 10, 20 or 30 minutes on the app in a given visit to the app. When you hit your ‘break reminder,’ you’ll be encouraged to take time off the app.
Instagram includes a dashboard that shows how much time people have spent in the app in the past week, a customizable daily time alert, and a mute push notifications setting to limit notifications.
On Facebook, you can remove someone’s posts from your feed or limit their ability to see your posts. You can even edit who can see past posts.
Hiding likes
We’re giving everyone on Instagram and Facebook the option to hide like counts on all posts in their feed and like counts on their own posts, so others can’t see how many likes their posts got.
Message controls
Instagram accounts have the ability to filter messages so that they never have to see potentially harmful messages from strangers again - this is known as our ‘Hidden Words’ feature. All accounts on Instagram have the option to switch off messages from people they don’t follow. This means you never have to receive a message from anyone you don’t know again.
Messenger also gives you the option to ignore a conversation and automatically move it out of your inbox, without having to block the sender.
Choose who can comment.
‘Hidden Words’ comment and DM filter on Instagram: Anyone can add emojis, words or phrases they find offensive to their comment filter, and comments containing these terms won’t appear under the post. DMs will be sent to a filtered inbox. We’ve also recently just started defaulting Creator accounts into Hidden Words, because we know it can be a powerful way to prevent potential harassment or abuse.
You can gain control of a conversation by adjusting your commenting audience. You can choose to allow the public, just your friends or only the profile and pages you’ve tagged to comment on an individual public post. On Instagram, you can choose to limit certain people from commenting on your posts.
Snooze or unfollow
Snoozing a person, page or group prevents you from seeing their posts in your Feed for 30 days. The person, page or group won't know they have been snoozed. Unfollowing someone removes their posts in your Feed but allows you to remain friends with them.
Mute
If you want to remain friends with someone, but want to take a break from seeing their content, mute them. When you mute a person, page or group, their story will no longer appear in your Feed. Only you can see who you've muted.
Unfriend or block
To prevent contact from those you do not wish to interact with on Facebook or Instagram you may block or unfriend them.
Unfriending someone removes them from your friends list. If you unfriend someone, we won't notify the person. If you want to be friends with this person again, you'll need to send a new friend request.
Blocking a person automatically unfriends them. They are no longer able to see your profile, tag you, invite you to events or groups or add you as a friend. Blocking someone also means they cannot search for your profile.
Blocking is reciprocal, so you also won't be able to see things they post or start conversations with them. When you block someone, we don't notify them.
On Instagram we also recently announced that we’re making it harder for someone who you’ve already blocked from contacting you again through new and existing accounts. With this feature, whenever you decide to block someone on Instagram, you’ll have the option to both block their account and existing and new accounts that person may create.
Choose who to share with.
Facebook's audience selector tool allows you to control who sees your content. You can share with everyone, just your friends or even a customized audience. Use the custom option to be as specific as you want. Remember, when you post to another person’s profile, that person controls who can view that post. Additionally, anyone who is tagged in a post may see it, along with their friends.
Use Limits to hide comments and DM requests.
Limits lets you automatically hide comments and DM requests from people who don’t follow you, or who only recently followed you. We developed this feature because we heard that creators and public figures sometimes experience sudden spikes of comments and DM requests from people they don’t know. In many cases this is an outpouring of support — like if they go viral after winning an Olympic medal. But sometimes it can also mean an influx of unwanted comments or messages. Now, if you’re going through that — or think you may be about to — you can turn on Limits and avoid it.
Manage tags
We’ve seen that tags and mentions can be used to target or bully others, so we have controls that allow you to manage who can tag or mention you on Instagram.
On Instagram, you can choose whether you want everyone, only people you follow or no one to be able to tag or mention you in a comment, caption or Story.
On Facebook, You can select to approve or dismiss posts that you are tagged in before they appear on your Timeline. This automatically applies to posts where you are tagged by someone you are not friends with. You can also choose to approve or dismiss tags that people add to your posts. When you turn this feature on, a tag that someone adds to your post will not appear until you approve it.
Add people to your restricted list.
With ‘Restrict,’ you can protect your account from unwanted interactions in a quieter, or more subtle way. Once Restrict is enabled, comments on your posts from a person you have restricted will only be visible to that person. You can choose to view the comment by tapping “See Comment”; approve the comment so everyone can see it; delete it; or ignore it. You won’t receive any notifications for comments from a restricted account.
Managing difficult life moments
Everyone has difficult moments, and for some, they might turn to social media during that time. Our research shows that when people post about difficult life moments, those posts receive far more feedback from friends, offering both public and private support. We have designed tools to help in these specific moments, should someone turn to Facebook or one of our apps for support.
Memorialized accounts have had a positive reception and are reported as meaningful to friends and family, allowing them to reminisce and hear from others who loved the person.
