Instagram introduces comment & profile control features, anonymous reporting for self-injury

Facebook-owned Instagram on Tuesday announced several new options for comments and profiles, intended to create a friendlier atmosphere for the photo- and video-based social network.

In the near future, all users will be able to disable comments for posts, Instagram said. The option was previously limited to a small collection of people, but will soon accessible to everyone by tapping "Advanced Settings" before posting. Tapping "..." after a post is up will give the option of re-enabling comments.

Another upcoming feature will be the ability to "heart" comments, mimicking the use of the Like button on Facebook.

One change effectively immediately is the ability to remove any follower of a private account, without alerting them, by going into the follower list and tapping the "..." menu next to someone's name. Until this week, the only way of getting rid of a follower in that situation was to block them.

A second change is the ability anonymously report someone who might be at risk of self-injury, such as cutting. Instagram said it has teams working around the clock and worldwide to review such reports, and if it decides to go ahead, it can connect that person to organizations willing to help.

Thanks to Facebook's backing, Instagram has become an increasingly high-profile social network. Like others, though, it has sometimes struggled with the behavior of its own customers, particularly harassment.