Instagram working on content monetisation, keyword-based DM blocking

It remains to be seen how effective the keyword-based content blocking will be, while not all users will be eligible to sign up as an affiliate.

These are the new features reportedly being worked on by Instagram.

It hasn't been a week since Instagram rolled out support for Live Rooms, allowing users all over the world to go live with three other people at the same time, but the company is already working on its next big feature, according to reports. The company is reportedly working on an affiliate program, bringing better controls to how its direct messages work, and a new feature to its image editor.

The first and most important change that is likely to come is a section called “Affiliate” under the Creator section of the Instagram app, according to screenshots shared by Twitter user Alessandro Paluzzi, who reportedly reverse-engineered the app to enable the features, according to XDA. Rival company TikTok last year announced that it would set aside $300 million to pay content creators for their work and it is likely that this affiliate program will work on similar lines.

Earn money from your Posts and Stories!#Instagram continues to work on the Affiliate option 👀
Here's some information regarding this feature they are developing 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/PYxQeg03Th

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) February 17, 2021

XDA also reports that there could be another improvement coming to the image-sharing platform's editing tool collection - the oddly named “Brightness.AI” button that sits right next to the regular brightness function. Sadly, Paluzzi didn't share a video of the feature in action - perhaps it doesn't do anything yet and is currently only a placeholder.

However, that's not the only area of the app that Instagram seems to be working on at the moment. Paluzzi also shared another screenshot of the app's Privacy settings section, featuring a new “Content controls' section that will allow users to block out Direct messages (or DMs) based on specified keywords. According to Paluzzi, these can be toggled on and off globally, or blocked for some users.

The company is likely building the third feature to block trolls or a specific person from targeting people based on certain keywords, but word-based filters are easily circumvented and are rarely effective when it comes to online bullying. As such, its best to take these new features with a pinch of salt, as they could be dropped at any time if they require too much effort to develop or a better solution is found, making these tools obsolete.