Photo and video sharing social platform Instagram that is owned by Facebook is launching a new “prompt feature” that would pop-up if the users try to find substance abuse related recovery and treatment services. This would even happen if they try to purchase drugs illegally on the platform using certain hashtags such as “opioid”.
It has been reported by the company that the users make use of hashtags to find addiction support and communities as well as illegal drugs. This is an attempt to encourage people who are indulging in or fighting against addiction of drugs. The prompt comes with three options to choose from — “get support”, “see posts anyway”, and “cancel”.
With this move, the company is introducing a new pop-up feature which aims at solving the platform’s drug issues, even if it doesn’t address the actual substance sales.
The user can reportedly seek to get help and support resources that Instagram has developed with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration called the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the Partnership for Drug Free Kids.
The new feature is at present available only in the US but is soon being planned to be launched globally. The problem of drug addiction has become a major issue these days and the social platforms are taking a good step towards its awareness and reduction.
Instagram has been coming up with a lot of fresh features for a long time now. And this step is definitely one of the best ones. The Facebook-owned company previously rolled out a similar feature for users who search for hashtags related to self-injury and eating disorders.