This week, Instagram announced that they are changing their comment algorithm to help prevent bullying.  Here at Everly Mag, we talked to teens about what they think of the new comment filter and how it can help.

What do you think of Instagram’s new filter?  What kinds of bullying do you hope it will prevent?

“I think [the filter] is great.  Hopefully it will help to resolve the huge cyberbullying problem we have in society.  I have seen [bullying] many times, mainly on girls who go to my school and also on my own account, with constant name-calling and negative comments in general.  Hopefully, the new Instagram filter should make it impossible to comment phrases with nasty words.  I would also like to see more children and teenagers educated on the aftermath of how you can affect someone through one small, what you may think is harmless comment.  Until I experienced it myself, I totally underestimated how strongly meaningless comments could negatively impact me.” – Evie, 14, United Kingdom

“I am SO happy that Instagram is doing this!  Instagram is one of the major sources of cyberbullying and this could really help put a stop to it.  I have seen bullying on Instagram [with] my friends, celebrities, and actually myself.  I hope that this filter will block most of the hurtful things that people say online. What’s the point of commenting if it will just get deleted anyways?  They don’t understand how much it hurts.  I hope adults and the community will pay more attention to these things.  At my school, it’s mostly ignored.   I’m so happy that people other than us [are] trying to make a change.” – Raegan, 13, United States

“I think [the filter] is amazing!  It will show bullies how to keep their negative thoughts to themselves, and not express them online.  I mainly see bullying on celebrities’ posts, where they are compared to other celebrities or people comment horrible things about the way they look.  Also, there is a strong presence of bullying between regular teenagers, where they are pressured into photoshopping their photos to be accepted online.  I hope this filter will stop ALL bullying online, and start to prevent face-to-face bullying.  I think that adults should monitor what their children share online, whether it be photos or comments.” – Katie, 13, United Kingdom

“I like the idea, but what does Instagram consider harmful?  Everyone has different breaking points and copes with situations differently.  I actually [saw bullying] last night when scrolling through celebrities’ posts.  It was on a post featuring a nine-year-old girl.  I started looking through the comments and it was saying how everything was handed to her and that she was a privileged brat.  Someone even said that people like her is why people have such a bad taste for Americans.  I would hope that the filter would accomplish [eliminating] all the hateful comments.  There’s two types of comments: one that really hurts and affects a person, and one that is a creative criticism.  I hope that [the filter] will eliminate the hurtful comments.” – Emily, 17, United States

“This is amazing!  I wish this had happened sooner.  I love the fact that [Instagram] is taking a stand on bullying and they are trying to make social media better for everyone.  Thank you, Instagram!” – Kayla, 13, Australia

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Feature Image Credit: Edgar Alvarez / Engadget