While the Instagram platform is mainly known for the fact that it allows multiple people around the world to post selfies and the like, there could be a lot more behind its usefulness. Some have suggested that it could be useful for tracking the spread of pandemics, such as the coronavirus that is causing such panic around the world.
Governments around the world are seeking out any suspected carriers of the disease, but could they advance with this by utilising the Instagram social media platform? After all, people use it for tracking where they’ve been. While it may seem quite odd to turn to Instagram for such, especially considering that it is older people who are thought to be most at risk from suffering under coronavirus and most users of Instagram are under 35, that doesn’t mean that youngsters can’t carry the disease. Because younger people tend to experience milder symptoms than those more advanced in years, infected youths may not know that they have it.
Of course, if a youngster who is infected but not aware of it then chooses to travel, they are more likely to end up spreading the disease. Granted, once they have been diagnosed with coronavirus, the route to take should be to self-isolate, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have spread it to people based in various other countries.
Instagram Bans Use of Coronavirus Filters
Filters were introduced to Instagram in recent weeks that allowed users to add virtual masks to their faces and take photos and videos with them on. The tasteless filters came into use towards the beginning of countries introducing self-isolation rules, but Instagram has now opted to rid itself of them entirely. And in a complete U-turn on these, Instagram has chosen to push information from the World Health Organisation (WHO) into users’ main feeds.
Yet, it’s not only the mask filters that have been created and used by Instagram members. Instead, others have created a filter that determines whether or not a user has coronavirus or not. Of course, filters are not able to diagnose people, making them slightly dangerous to some unknowing users. Additionally, a filter was brought into effect that referenced panic buying brought on by the pandemic.
Sports betting companies are also active on Instagram as well, and you can find a reliable one of these through the Betenemy platform, which reviews and compares online sportsbooks. Sometimes, they offer special offers through Instagram for bettors to take advantage of, too.
While all of those filters were not created by Instagram, users from all over the world were able to access them and utilise them through the social media site. Now, users cannot search for coronavirus filters and it has vowed to reject all pending requests for similar effects to be introduced.
The media has already spread its own vitriol of information that has been deemed as scaremongering where coronavirus is concerned. Instagram, in a potential bid to tackle similar things happening through its platform, has restricted hashtags that are deemed to spread incorrect information, and have begun removing posts that advertise fake cures or prevention methods. Critics blasted such effects earlier this month when they were first crafted, deeming them both inappropriate and offensive.
Article by Vishal
Vishal Gaikar is a professional blogger from Pune, India. If you like this post, you can follow him on Twitter.
