Instagram is one of the most used social networks in the world, in recent years its success has been growing until you get the attention of most users who like to share their emotions through photos and videos.
But like any website or web platform you are subject to dangers, scams and hacker attacks, so we will explain how to protect the Instagram account using a series of features introduced by the social network to make the account more secure.
If you have never performed the operations we are going to explain to you, we suggest that you do so, in this way you will have a protected and hardly violated Instagram account.
Enable two-factor authentication
If you are afraid that someone has entered your Instagram account or can do so you can activate two-factor authentication, which requires the second form of authentication after entering the password, so even if someone tries to access it can not do so without confirmation access.
To configure this option go to Settings> Two-Factor Authentication and then Ask for the security code, this way you will always be asked to enter a code that will be sent to the phone number associated with the account, before logging on.
Check who can see your photos
When you post a photo or a video on Instagram, anyone registered with the social network can see them by default, but you can make changes.
If you want the contents to be seen only by your followers, you need to make the Instagram account private, to do so you have to go to Settings> Account Privacy and Private Account
By setting this option, you will have to manually approve each new follower, giving permission to view the content only to those who know or like each other.
By activating the private account, Google will not index any of the photos uploaded in Google’s image search.
Status of activity disabled
On Instagram there is a function that allows people to know when other users actively use the app, thanks to a small green dot near the photo of the friend in Direct.
This way people can know when you are online to reply to a message, but at the same time they may not give you the desired privacy.
If you want to deactivate it go to Settings> status Activity and confirm deactivation; you can also disable chat by denying people the ability to see when you are chatting with them, when you type or use the camera.
Report inappropriate content
If you notice annoying behavior, if someone is harassing you or posting inappropriate content, you can report it to Instagram.
You can do it directly from your account, comment or story, just touch the icon with the three dots at the top right of an Instagram post or at the bottom of a story, or scroll through a comment and click on the exclamation mark.
If Instagram notices that the account, comment, or content violates the terms of service, the account will be suspended.
Lock, silence and remove followers
If you have followers who publish content that annoys you or violate the Instagram rules you can act in several ways: blocking them, deactivating them or removing them from your list of Followers.
To do this, just go to the annoying user’s profile and touch the icon with the three dots, then choose the desired option; to manage blocked accounts, go to Settings> Blocked accounts, and for blocked settings under Settings> Blocked accounts.
In addition, if you decide to switch to a private account, you can also remove followers, leaving it only those you are pleased to have, simply use the three dots icon next to the name and then select Remove.
Check and manage comments under the contents
Instagram allows you to manage the comments left by the followers under the contents and Stories, if you believe that someone has left them inappropriately you can delete them.
Depending on the type of mobile operating system, scroll or tap and then press and hold on the comment until the trash icon appears to delete it.
If you want to turn off comments under a specific post, tap the three dots icon at the top right of the content and press Deactivate Comments.
Other comments management options are possible in the Settings> Commenting options path, which allows you to block comments to specific people, allow you to publish them to selected users or hide offensive ones.
You can also manage story interactions through the Settings> Story Options path and change who can send private messages or simply disable Direct, or whether photos or videos can be shared or not.
Management of the view of the photos
The Instagram profile has some main areas in which your photos are shown, those posted and those in which you received a tag, if the account is open, everyone can see the content in which you were tagged, but you can manually check what to show and remove.
To remove the tag from a photo, go to the photo and then tap your username, select the three-dot icon and then Photo Options> More Options> Remove me from the post.
You can also manage other options by going to Settings> Photos in which you are there and decide whether to hide them automatically and which ones to remove with the Hide Picture option, to delete them at the same time.
Enter a security code for payments
With Instagram you can make purchases but to do so you need to give your credit card number, to prevent unauthorized people from shopping you need to enable a security method through Settings> Payments> Security and enter a 4-digit code that will be requested every time you will make a purchase.
Revoke access to third-party applications
There are many third-party applications that connect to Instagram without being associated with the service, even if some seem harmless, they can compromise privacy, to avoid this you have to revoke access from a computer.
Click on the gear icon on the account profile and enter the Settings, then click on Authorized Apps and remove the ones you do not want to access.
Check the origin of an account
Finally, it might be useful to get more information about accounts that have a large number of followers, to do so just go to the profile and tap the “…” button and then choose About this account.
You will have information on the country of origin of the account, the history of changes to the username and any accounts shared with followers, if you are not very convinced of the authenticity of the profile, you can always decide to block it and/or report it to Instagram.