Are you a victim of cyber bullying? Has someone created a fake profile in your name? Are you afraid of posting pictures on Instagram or Facebook, as your pictures have been misused?
If you have faced the above-stated problems or similar other problems, chances are you would want to read this article.
Let us face it; the internet is not as friendly a place as it used to be. The increasing accessibility of everyone to the World Wide Web has resulted in some people and organizations using it for all the wrong reasons.
The advent of Social Media has ensured that more and more people are vulnerable to cyber-crimes, cyber bullying, and a host of other problems.
It is not as though Billion Dollar Social Media Companies like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are not worried about your safety on their platforms. Of course, they are.
These companies invest millions of dollars in finding tools, developing safeguards, innovating tech products and software that will help increase safety and security on platforms, and working towards building confidence and trust.
However, as individuals and consumers on social media platforms, we must realize that companies can only do so much. It is also an individual responsibility to try to be safe on the internet.
Some signs indicate cyberbullying behavior. However, you have to look at things from two different directions. To begin with, the target has to understand that they are being bullied, and then the responsible parties or their parents have to figure out their kids are going through something.
But you have to figure it out first and take a stand for yourself or seek help from those who you trust. Here are some of the major signs of cyberbullying.
If you find someone you know getting anxious after using their phone or a sudden change in their mood while they were using their phones, it could be because of bullying. Someone who loves scrolling through their social media or is very active on the platform might suddenly stop doing it altogether. It could include spending their time on Instagram.
If you find someone getting angry during their online interactions, try talking to them. Try to figure out what they are going through. They might not open up immediately, but you can talk them through and understand what is causing them distress. Cyberbullying is intrusive and invasive, and it becomes omnipresent quickly.
Mental trauma often shows physical signs. All you have to do is look closely. Similarly, signs of cyberbullying can be shown in physical form as well. People who are more emotional show these kinds of signs more often.
Sometimes, it is difficult for youngsters to figure out why they cannot sleep peacefully. Or why they do not want to have their favorite meal or indulge in their favorite activities. However, this is also a major sign.
To be safe, we must follow certain guidelines and best practices that companies evolve by conducting thorough research and investigation. Today, we look at ways in which you can be safe on Instagram.
After its acquisition by Facebook, Instagram started working stringently on evolving strict ‘Community Guidelines.’ Instagram is very strict when it comes to content on violence, nudity, pornography, abuse, obscenity, and other similar items.
The Instagram Community Guidelines Team works 24×7 reviewing and removing thousands of posts, stories, and videos that users have reported. If such reports do not match Instagram’s guidelines, they are immediately removed from the platform.
The first thing that you should do when you see a post, story, profile, or any other irregularities in your feed is to report the same to Instagram. Instagram makes it possible to add a burger menu (three dots) to every post and profile, with a Report tab on it.
Reporting is anonymous, so the person who is reported will never have an idea about the fact that you have reported them.
According to Instagram, the most often reported crime on its platform is related to cyber bullying and harassment. To curb such practices, Instagram has evolved numerous guidelines and asked its users to follow them.
In addition to reporting the said page or individual profile, there are certain tools that users have at their disposal to help them or prevent them from becoming victims of cyber bullying on Instagram.
Instagram’s ‘Blocking’ feature is fast, efficient, and very easy to use. Users can directly block people by clicking on a tab notification that appears right at the top right-hand side of the profile that needs to be blocked.
In addition to blocking individual profiles and pages, users can also control who posts comments on their pages and who cannot post comments or engage in any way.
From its backend, Instagram has identified a set of words and phrases that automatically crawl and retracts from posting. Individuals can go to their settings section and click ‘Comments Control’ to change the comments control.
In terms of giving, you the right to protect your personal privacy, Instagram gives you the right to close your account to outsiders. This means you can make your profile either a Public one or a Private one.
Once people request your access, you can verify whether it is your friend, colleague, relative, or someone with whom you want to share access.
If you do not want to experience any untoward incidents regarding privacy, you could check out this article on cellphonedeal.com to see what you can do to ensure your phone is as safe and secure as possible.
Instagram also allows you to show whether you are active or not, as well as your last seen, much like WhatsApp (WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram are all owned by Mark Zuckerberg!).
If you have a huge following but want to restrict people who can view your personal story, you can create a ‘List’ of Close Friends. Some elements and tools will help you control the privacy of your Instagram account.
Instagram advises you to choose a strong password. In other words, a password that contains upper case, down the case, numbers, and special characters.
Many people make the error of using their names, birthdays, and year of birth as passwords. Never choose a password with your name or birthday. That is too obvious, and people will be able to hack it easily.
Instagram also allows for two-step authentication by using Google Authenticator. You can go to your account settings and use this to make your account safe and secure.
Many social media brands will encourage you to spend as much time and consume as much content on social media pages as possible. That adds to their revenue. However, Instagram understands how social media a detrimental effect on an individual can have if it is being used incessantly.
Instagram has developed a setting that is neatly tucked into your activity settings. You can monitor how much time you spend on the app daily, and you can even set reminders that the app will give you if you have gone overboard about your set time limit. This is a unique feature, and of all the people we had asked, literally, no one knows about this.
At the end of the day, humans and tech will ultimately shape a better and mutually beneficial world for both. Instagram has surely come up with several innovative and friendly features that will increase the safety parameters on its platform.
Nevertheless, we as consumers should also stay well aware of how we use the information on the platform. Problems and security issues might arise. However, Instagram is committed to protecting its users, and that allays some of our fears.
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Part-time blogger, full-time dreamer! Ejaz Ahmed likes to think about how technology will ultimately transform human lives for the better. He is deeply fascinated with using technology to democratize the spread of useful information on the internet.
