Instagram is making it easier to address people by their defined pronouns. The company announced today that it’s allowing people to add up to four pronouns to their profile, which they can then choose to display publicly or only to their followers. (Users under 18 will have this setting turned on by default.) Instagram says people can fill out a form to have a pronoun added, if it’s not already available, or just add it to their bio instead. Instagram says this is available in a “few countries,” but doesn’t specify further. We’ve reached out for more information and will update if we hear back.
A couple Verge staffers already have the pronouns setting available to them, suggesting it’s live in the US. You can get a better sense of the feature’s user flow in the screenshots below, courtesy of news writer Jay Peters.
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Other platforms also allow their users to add pronouns to their profiles. Dating apps, like OkCupid, have already introduced the feature, as have other apps like Lyft. Interestingly, Facebook allowed users to define their pronouns starting in 2014, although the feature limited people to “he/him, she/her, and they/them.” This appears to still be the case while Instagram will offer more options.
