Dive Brief:
- Instagram is offering comment moderation on its newly launched business pages, including an option to automatically block language that users have previously reported as offensive, according to TechCrunch.
- The automated blocking of offensive language doesn’t offer marketers very fine-tuned control over what gets blocked, but it is a very simple way to stop comment boards from getting out of control and casting a negative light over a brand’s page.
- The feature launched on Thursday and can be found in the account settings for business pages.
Dive Insight:
Offensive comments may not be a major issue for brands on Instagram, but marketers will surely welcome the “set it and forget it” simplicity of the automated tool. Research from TrackMaven found that 98.9% of interactions with Fortune 500 brands on Instagram are "likes," with only 1.1% being comments.
As TechCrunch underscored, Instagram doesn’t offer comment searching, giving users a lowered sense of accountability and creating an atmosphere where comment sections can fill up with slurs, scams and spam, a situation that no brand wants to deal with on a dedicated business page.
Business pages are the latest move from Instagram to become more marketing-friendly. Instagram has rolled out new advertising options with formats that match parent company Facebook, as well as sharing an ad platform with Facebook, making it easy for marketers to run campaigns across both social media networks. As a result, Instagram has become more of a pay-for-play marketing option (similar to Facebook), and less about building an organic audience.
Instagram overall has about 500 million monthly users and 300 million active daily users.