Instagram Adds New Measures to Help Users Regain Access to Locked Accounts

Instagram has added some new tools to help users regain access to their accounts if they find themselves locked out, while it’s also added some new measures to combat impersonation – which feel like a pointed jab at Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter 2.0’ approach.

First off, on re-gaining access to hacked accounts – to help people get back into their profiles, Instagram has set up a new recovery center which will guide you through the process of logging back into your profile.

As you can see in this sequence, now, if you find yourself locked out of IG, you can go to Instagram.com/hacked, which will then take you through the process to get your log-in info.

As explained by IG:

“If you’re unable to log in to your account, enter Instagram.com/hacked on your mobile phone or desktop browser. Next, you will be able to select if you think you’ve been hacked, forgot your password, lost access to two-factor authentication or if your account has been disabled. From there, you will be able to follow a series of steps to help regain access to your account.”

It could be a helpful tool to help avoid a common frustration, with a simplified flow to help get you back into the app.

Instagram also notes that people with multiple accounts will be able to choose which specific account needs support.

Instagram’s also expanded access to its friend confirmation process, which enables users to refer to their friends to confirm their identity, if they end up locked out.

The option, which Instagram started testing back in July, is now available to everyone on Instagram.

“If you find yourself locked out of your account, you’ll be able to choose two of your Instagram friends to verify your identity and get back into your account.”

In addition to this, Instagram’s also adding new measures to combat impersonation in the app, including new warnings on questionable contact, and expanded display of its verification badges.

Which is almost the opposite of the direction that Twitter is currently heading.

As per IG:

“We’re now testing sending warnings if an account that we suspect may be impersonating someone requests to follow you. In the coming months, we’ll also send warnings if an account that may be impersonating a business sends you a Direct Message (DM).”

Instagram’s verification badges, meanwhile, will soon be shown across more surfaces in the app:

“That way, you can quickly determine whether the account you are interacting with is authentic. In addition to Profiles, you can now see verified blue badges in Stories and DMs and coming soon, Feed.”

So while Twitter is diluting its blue badges as an authenticity tool, by selling them to anyone for $8, Instagram is ramping up its emphasis on blue ticks as a marker of true identity, as clarified by its verification checking process.

I mean, theoretically, Twitter’s new $8 Blue checkmarks could also serve a similar purpose, if Twitter were to incorporate more ID checking into its systems. But right now, the process is not as vigorous in confirming user information, while the fact that anyone can buy a blue tick reduces the value of it as a marker of trust.

On Instagram, however, it remains an important signal in this respect, and the expanded display of the checkmark could help to reduce impersonation in the app.

Instagram says that these new updates are being rolled out to all users from today.