For social media users and marketers who no longer want to see pictures of cats and coffees on their news feed, there’s a new feature rolling out. Instagram, the visual social platform owned by Facebook, just announced a feature that offers the power to dictate which posts do or don’t show up on a feed. In the weeks ahead, users will be able to remove the posts and stories published by specific accounts on your Instagram feed, without unfollowing anyone.
This “mute” option from Instagram may be a good option for someone who wants to get rid of a person’s updates on their feed, without causing a relationship problem. When an individual is muted, they won’t get any notification telling them of the change, so they can continue to post as normal, unaware that someone isn’t seeing their content.
The New Mute Feature
For years, Facebook has given users the option to get rid of certain people on their feed, and Snapchat users were thrilled to get the same experience. It seems as though it’s about time that Instagram followed suit – providing users with a way to refine their news feed without risking the loss of followers. This option will also mean that users don’t have to unfollow friends that post too frequently when they don’t have time to sift through too much content.
This isn’t the only update introduced by Instagram lately either. Social media marketers and PR experts will notice that the social media platform has been experimenting with the algorithm it uses to organize content too. Instagram is trying to figure out how it can show users the content that they’re most interested in at the top of their news feed. The difference with this update is that it gives more power back to users, rather than making decisions for them.
How to Activate the Instagram Mute Feature
Those who want to take full advantage of the new Instagram feature when it rolls out in the coming weeks won’t have to worry too much about a complicated tech experience. To use the system, all you need to do is select the three-dot menu at the side of a post from someone you’d rather not see in your news feed anymore. Underneath the “unfollow” option, the “mute” choice should be listed too.
Similar to the unfollow option that Facebook offers, and the Snapchat “do not disturb” feature, the Instagram mute solution means that users can still go and look at the account of the people they mute if they want to catch up with stories and posts – even when the profile is set to private. The users on mute still follow each other, the difference is that you don’t get the updates on your feet when they add new content to the platform.
The mute feature isn’t necessarily permanent either. There’s also a feature to unmute the account stories and posts that you previously got rid of by following the same procedure.
Ronn Torossian is the CEO and Founder of 5W Public Relations.
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Ronn Torossian’s Articles on Entrepreneur
Ronn Torossian’s Blog Posts on Times of Israel
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