Let's be honest; the world of social media can be a cruel, cruel place.

From cyber bullying to the rise of online trolls, social media platforms play host to a barrage of negative commentary on a daily basis.

Eager to combat this, Instagram's co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom, has announced that the company has created tools which the public can use to avoid encountering negativity on their accounts.

"Today, we’re announcing new tools and programs to keep Instagram a safe and positive place for self-expression."

"Since the beginning, we’ve tried to make Instagram a welcoming place for everyone. Our community has grown to 800 million, with 500 million using it every day. It’s more important than ever to strengthen our commitment to safety and kindness," read the organisation's official blog.

According to the the CEO, the platform will be introducing a tool which allows users to block comments from certain people.

Previously, users had the ability to turn off all comments, but the new function allows you to filter comments, and block certain people from having a say on your posts.

"Over time, we’ve launched a number of tools to help you manage the comments experience, and today we’re introducing more," the blog continued.

"Starting today, if your account is public, you’ll see a new way to choose who can comment on your posts — from everyone to just groups of people, like people you follow or your followers.".

"Also, whether your account is public or private, you’ll be able to block other accounts from commenting on your posts. In June, we launched a filter to block certain offensive comments in English, today we are expanding this filter to Arabic, French, German and Portuguese."

" The filter will improve over time, enabling the community’s experience of sharing to improve as well."

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