Three Black Women Create Instagram Feature to Ensure Black Creators Get Credited for Their Work

As TikTok continues to face criticism for white creatives who receive more visual representation than Black creatives, Instagram added a new feature to help address the issue.

On Monday, Instagram announced a new special tag where professional accounts and influencers will receive credit for their original creations. The feature was made in direct response to the Black creators who feel overlooked or shut out from trends that they create, NBC News reported.

“We want to ensure that as Black creators’ content is being distributed as it already is, they are getting the proper attribution,” Instagram engineer Cameryn Boyd said.

The tag comes after Black content creators boycotted creating dance challenges on TikTok after noticing white creators were receiving more recognition from the trends created by Black users.

Alexis Michelle Adjei, a data analyst, worked with Boyd and Alexandra Zaoui, a data analyst at Meta, to address these disparities on Instagram in an effort to amplify more Black creators and get the influencers to transition their viral content from TikTok over to Instagram.

“Black creators and addressing that inequity in the creator ecosystem” was a central focus when developing the new feature, Adjei said.

To use the new enhanced tags, users will need to tap “Tag People” when creating a post, Tech Crunch reported. The next step is to tap on “Add Tag” where users can search and select their contributors. Click “Show Profile Category” to display the creator category that includes roles such as “stylist” or “photographer.”

The feature will help ensure that all who were involved in the content receive their proper credit.

“Proper creative credit and recognition is a starting point for discovery, new opportunities, and economic empowerment,” Instagram s n a blog post.

“For many Black and underrepresented creators, crediting is an entryway to building a sustainable career as a creator, while combating cultural appropriation and ensuring the world knows who is driving culture. Simply put —if you’re a makeup artist, songwriter or another significant collaborator on a post, your contributions will be more visible in the post.”