By Zainab Shafiq 
Instagram has recently unveiled a novel safety enhancement for its Direct Messages (DMs) with the intention of curbing the persistent inundation of unwanted notifications from unfamiliar individuals.
If an individual you’re not connected with sends you a message, they will be limited to sending a single text. Only after you’ve accepted their chat request or added them to your list of followers can an extended conversation be entertained.
This measure holds the promise of reducing spam, which is particularly beneficial for prominent accounts that are prone to receiving messages from unfamiliar sources.
Furthermore, a freshly dispatched DM request will be confined to text-based communication. The exchange of images, videos, or voice messages is only enabled after your chat request is accepted or if you’ve been added as a follower.
Cindy Southworth, the lead for Women’s Safety at Meta, stated:
Our goal is to empower users with confidence and control over their inbox interactions. This is why we’re trialing innovative features that restrict the receipt of images, videos, or multiple messages from non-followers until a chat request is approved.
This addition joins Instagram’s existing safeguards for DMs, such as the “Hidden Words” feature, which automatically blocks potentially offensive words and phrases within messages from unfamiliar sources. These messages are rerouted to a separate folder, making it simpler to overlook them.
Additionally, Instagram provides a discreet method to avoid interactions without resorting to blocking. The “Restrict” option permits you to limit bothersome comments from an individual you follow to being visible only to them, excluding everyone else from viewing them.