Facebook-owned photo and video sharing app Instagram has made it easier to address people by their pronouns.
The company stated that people can now add up to four pronouns to their profile, which they can choose to view publicly or only to their followers. This setting will be allowed by default for users under the age of 18. People may fill out a form to get a pronoun added if it isn’t already available, or they can just add it to their bio.
Instagram said that it’s available in “a few countries,” but it doesn’t mention which ones.
To set your pronoun, go to your profile tab, select “Edit Profile,” and search for an empty Pronouns field in the list of items (this is different from the one deeper in “personal information settings”). When you tap that, you’ll be able to choose from up to four options for what you’d like to be called.
Interestingly, users cannot simply type anything they want into the field, presumably to ensure that it is used for its intended purpose and not for gender-related “jokes.” Of course, if you want to be more creative and use emoji or a fancy font, you can do so instead of using the “official” pronouns.
Users of other platforms can also add pronouns to their profiles. Dating apps like OkCupid, as well as other apps like Lyft, have already introduced the feature. In 2014, Facebook began allowing users to define their pronouns, though the feature was limited to “he or him, she or her, and they or them.” This appears to be the case even though Instagram will have more options.
