Instagram, although a social networking toolthat has grown tremendously in recent years due to the fact that it allows its users to communicate with each other and share photos and videos, can often be used maliciously by some users, which makes it imperative to know how to protect yourself.
Some basic things you should know are that:
- Every profile is public to everyone, which can be changed through the app's settings. You can change the settings for your posts to private. This setting automatically means that if someone wants to access your posts, they will have to send you a friend request first. It would therefore be a good idea to set your profile to private and choose who can contact you.
- Through the use of hashtags, photos and videos are categorized according to their content and are visible on the hashtags. Therefore, if you do not want your photos and videos to be visible publicly, you can make your profile private or otherwise not use hashtags. The same applies when using a location in each of your posts.
- If someone offends you in a photo or video, it would be a good idea to report them, while for users who may not be real people, it is recommended that you block them or stop following them.
- You can also delete offensive comments on your photos or videos.
- Any photo, video, comment, or even an account created for the purpose of bullying or harassment can be reported through the Help Center and it is recommended that this be done immediately.
- If someone is impersonating you through an account they created on Instagram, you can also report them. Go to the Instagram Help Center, then the Privacy & Safety Center, select the “report something” section, and then the “Impersonation Accounts” option.
- Finally, in case someone "steals" a photo of you, you can also report it by displaying the corresponding credentials on the Instagram platform
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