Instagram works on a set of tools to allow the user to change privacy settings for mentions, posts and tabs on the web version. The novelty would give more freedom to those who use the social network in the browser and want to protect themselves from unnecessary exposure.
A screenshot was shared by leaker and developer Alessandro Paluzzi on his Twitter profile. With reverse engineering techniques, Paluzzi noticed the experiment in the Instagram source code, which demonstrates the developers’ performance.
#Instagram is working to allow you to change the privacy settings for mentions, posts and guides from the website as well 👀 pic.twitter.com/vynLMQv2hb
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) February 2, 2022
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It’s not entirely clear how each of the options should work, but you can speculate based on what’s already in the mobile app. In the case of mentions, for example, the option should prevent unauthorized people from citing your username in publications. In the app for Android and iOS, you can set whether only people you follow or no one can tag you.
The same concept should be valid for posts, with limitations on who will have access to the content. Today, there is the option to limit the view of Stories to your selected friends, but the same cannot be done with feed posts. With this addition, Insta could only allow posts to a select group of users — something that could be tied to a possible subscription system already mentioned before.
In the case of guides, the option should be related to the option to allow or deny that other people can add your posts to their respective guides. When this is released, the post is displayed in its entirety and with the author’s username, which can be annoying for some people.
Because it is in the development phase, it is impossible to know when the feature will arrive or if it will ever be released. Many of the tests done by the Instagram team take months (or years) to deliver, with some of them never seeing the light of day.
