Social media used to be considered a boon when it was launched. However, with time, it was misused for sheer uselessness. It didn’t come as a surprise to most people. Humans often take advantage of whatever privilege they have unless there’s nothing left to take advantage of. A prime example of this statement is our environment. Humans were the apex predators of the jungle, where we had everything we needed or wanted. Food, shelter, society, family, and contentment: it was all there. The only thing missing was satisfaction.
So, we created civilizations and empires. There were rulers and enslaved people and everything in between. We manipulated the ecosystem and killed off anything that caused a minor inconvenience.
We polluted the air, land, water, and space. Next to nothing is safe in this world of humans except humans. And today, we’ve reached a point where the environment harms us. Cancer of internal organs is caused due to the air, food, and water we consume.
The internet is yet another victim of our exploitation. Instead of using the literal goldmine of technology and knowledge, we are more concerned with creating ways to entertain ourselves. Today’s top entertainers are OTT platforms, online games, and social media.
Think about it: the average 12-year-old in America spends nearly five hours every day consuming entertainment content. What does a 12-year-old need entertainment for? A child whose days go by at school, at the playground, and with his friends does not need more entertainment.
Intentional entertainment is most applicable for adults who spend their days working hard for a living and dealing with family, friends, and other mentally taxing situations.
This lack of accountability in kids can be one of the major reasons behind the downfall of humans. With the advanced technology they’ve been surrounded with growing up, Gen Alpha will be full of losers or geniuses; there’s no in-between.
In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how you can take care of the “You can’t message this account unless they follow you” error on Instagram.
How to Fix “You can’t message this account unless they follow you” on Instagram
Instagram takes the security of its users very seriously. In that light, doesn’t it make sense for the users to have the option of stopping random people from sending them message requests?
For any users that don’t want to receive message requests from virtual strangers, there is an option that helps them achieve that. So, let’s say that one of your friends has activated that feature.
When you message that particular friend and they aren’t following you, your message request won’t reach them. Instead, you’ll see the error message telling you that you can’t send a message to this account unless they follow you.
As you can already tell, there isn’t much you can do to fix it. If there’s any other way you can contact them: in person or through another social media platform, then all’s well. If not, then you can contact a mutual friend and get connected.
Now that that’s covered let’s move on to the next topic. If you like the feature that we’re talking about here, we can help you activate it, too!
Here’s how to turn off message requests from people you don’t follow
Step 1: Launch Instagram on your smartphone and log in to your account.
Step 2: The first screen you’ll land on is the Instagram Home feed. Far below, at the bottom of that page, you’ll see five icons. Tap on the one at the right corner, which is a thumbnail of your Instagram profile picture.
Step 3: This will bring you over to your profile. At the top right corner, locate and tap on the hamburger icon.
Step 4: A pop-up menu with several actionable options will appear. Tap on the option at the top of that menu called Settings.
Step 5: Next, tap on the fourth option from the top called Privacy.
Step 6: Scroll down to the bottom of the Privacy page and tap on the Messages option.
Step 7: On the Messages page, you’ll see three options: Your followers on Instagram, People on Facebook, and Others on Instagram. Tap on each of those options one by one.
Step 8: On the next screens that appear, you’ll see the same two options: Message requests and Don’t receive requests. Tap on the second one, and you’re great to go!
If you feel your social media usage is getting out of hand and want to get out of it, we got you. We understand that you wouldn’t want to delete your account for a temporary break; deactivating your account is the best way to do this.
Here’s how to deactivate your Instagram account
Step 1: Tap on this link to temporarily disable your Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/remove/request/temporary/.
Step 2: On this webpage, you’ll be explained what deactivating your account means and how your data will be secured in your absence. Under that, you’ll see a Why are you deactivating your account? field.
When you tap on the blank, you’ll see several probably options for your deactivation. Choose the one that fits your situation. When you do so, Instagram will give you some solutions and articles that might help you with your problem.
Step 3: However, if none of those solutions/articles work for you, you can go ahead and re-enter your password in the next field. After that, tap on the blue Temporarily Deactivate Account button at the bottom, and you’re good to go.
However, we understand if you want to avoid going through all that hassle of deactivating your account. Moreover, it’s understandable if you think that all your friends will get concerned about you if you suddenly disappear from the platform.
In such cases, just uninstall Instagram and be strong enough to install it at the slightest whim. If anyone can do it, it’s you!
In the end
As we end this blog, let’s recap all we’ve discussed today.
Instagram takes your privacy very seriously. If you wish not to receive messages from strangers on the platform, it’s an entirely reasonable request. Follow our easy step-by-step guide to learn how it’s done.
If one of your friends has activated this feature and you can’t contact them, we’re sorry to say that there isn’t much you can do about it on Instagram. You could contact them somewhere else, like some other social media platform or in person, to tell them about it. You could also ask a mutual friend to hook you up with them.
Lastly, we discussed how you could deactivate your Instagram account if your daily usage tires you.
If our blog has helped you, don’t forget to tell us all about it in the comments below!
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