How To Tell If You Have The Instagram Update

Instagrammers, rejoice! Instagram announced today that it is adding new features to fight online abuse on its platform, including the ability to “like” and even completely disable comments. How can you tell if you have the Instagram update for comment likes? Keep reading for all the info. The hope is that the ability to like comments (à la Facebook) will give Instagram users the power to show their support for positive and constructive comments, which will, in turn, build more positivity in Instagram comment sections more generally.

To like an Instagram comment, all you have to do is tap the little heart icon to the right of the comment; when you like it, the heart will turn from white to red. So, if you’re wondering if you have the “like” function yet, just go to Instagram, tap on a post, tap on “View all comments,” and look at the comments. If they have little hearts next to them, you’ve got the update, and can like to your heart’s content.

If you don’t see the little heart icons, then, tragically, you don’t have the update yet. In a blog post, Instagram cofounder and CEO Kevin Systrom wrote that the update will be rolling out over a period of weeks, so it may simply not be available to you yet. (For what it’s worth, my phone had the update as of Tuesday.) Although Instagram will probably update automatically for you, there is a chance that, for whatever reason, the update is available to you but simply hasn’t been downloaded. Check on that by going to the App Store, tapping on “Updates” in the lower right corner, and looking for any waiting Instagram updates. If you see one, hit “Update” and then “Open.” If you don’t see an update, the new features probably haven’t reached you yet, so you’ll have to be patient (Easier said than done, I know.)

Instagram is attempting to curb online abuse by both rewarding positive comments and stopping abusive ones. In addition to liking comments, users will now be able to disable comments altogether on specific posts. This feature was previously available to a limited number of users, but now everyone gets it. To disable comments on a post, go through the normal process of putting together an Instagram post. When you get to the point of adding a caption/location/tags/etc, tap on the “Advanced Settings” option on the bottom of the screen. There, you can select “Turn Off Commenting.”

Happy instagramming, folks!

Images: Alex Potemkin/E+/Getty Images; Instagram (2)