There seems to be a common misconception here that you cannot request that your testers have an Instagram account. This is false. You are allowed to require that the tester provide their Instagram name. This is the designerās choice. However, you cannot ask testers to apply via Instagram. So this means you cannot link an Instagram testing call or provide your Instagram info and ask they go there to apply. (This has been confirmed with admin)
And as a side note, if you feel someone is breaking a rule, please report to admin instead of making comments on peopleās posts. This issue has stopped some designers from posting testing calls here because they feel unwelcome and attacked.
Edit: Iām going to be brutally honest here. I have been personally attacked by 2 people here. One reported me and tried to get my work taken down and another found a completely unrelated post about a testing call that was over a month ago just to tell me I canāt ask for Instagram handlesā¦ Each time I spent at least an hour crying. My brain couldnāt comprehend why someone would do this. I have severe anxiety, a panic disorder, and depression along with other undiagnosed issues. My brain processed these as a personal attack. An attack on my character. You never know what a person is going through so the best thing to do is to just ignore the post and allow admin to take action if necessary.
Iād also like to add that being inclusive generally refers to age, race, sexual orientation, disability, etc. Not everyone can test every pattern. Some tests require specific yarn, some require a person to model for fit, some require a specific size hook. If you didnāt have those things, youād just move on. But for some reason, Instagram is a problem
Most of the comments Iāve seen have said it goes against the community spirit of ribbr rather than set rules. Although granted, Iāve only seen a couple of comments.
Its kinda like going onto instagram and saying people can only enjoy your craft if they make a tiktok and follow you on there. Its allowed but its not nice
I have seen myltiple that say ācanātā and say it is against community guidelines. I have personally been told this by 2 people which is why I have confirmed with admin.
This has nothing to do with following. Just simply having one to post a photo. You canāt say they need to follow you but can require they have one. Most people follow each other though because we are here to support each other
I have an Instagram account but I have no clue how to use it, I click around on it and it confuses the heck out of me. Lucky I have no free time to test anything as I work full time
It is a great place to show off your work to your friends/family/followers Some people even use it as a āresumeā for testing. But I understand it isnāt everyoneās cup of tea
First and foremost, the core of the Ribblr community is being a positive and safe space for all crafters. Itās completely fine to disagree but making you @AmiMommyBoutique feel attacked is not okay. It rarely happens but weāre counting on you all to flag potential harmful posts.
As Ribblr continues to grow rapidly itās important to make clarifications so we recently updated our Testing zone guidelines which you can read here:
To emphasize-
There isnāt an issue with one particular social media platform.
A designer that chooses to post a tester call on Ribblr must follow the above.
They can set their requirements as they please (within reason, and you may flag posts accordingly for our review).
Many designers want to showcase their testers work on social media in order to promote the pattern and thank the tester. We get it and our social media team does it too.
However, our team does not choose to make it not a requirement, as we donāt want to deter testers who might not be on social media.
With more requirements they have designers take a risk of not having enough or any applications, and itās something they should consider. Like @GotenkslovesmeCraft said- some requirements might be allowed but not nice. Thatās why we give both testers and designers the option whether they want to participate.
We highly recommend using Ribblrās safe testing tools for both designers and crafters. This way both parties can be much more protected and we can always help out.
Ohh I was confused too when I saw comments about that, cause I read the rules carefully, but didnāt remember seeing anything about it.
Iām so sorry you went through this it was definitely not cool on that personās part to report and attack you
I donāt like to require an Instagram account, but itās nice to see the work of potential testers and not everyone uploads their makes on Ribblr, especially if most of their work is not from Ribblrās pattern library.
For more basic designs and beginner-easy level itās fine and I usually accept everyone who applies, but if the pattern is really complex or is a wearable, itās nice to have more experienced testers as well, who are gonna be able to give me more details about fit and about what didnāt work as well for them. Nothing against beginners of course, their work is always appreciated, but when youāre a beginner, you donāt always know how to word your concerns. And I totally get it, I was a beginner too once, we all were :).
Thanks Ribblr. I did not say anything until I had clarification from Saar. I typically avoid confrontation but this was an issue I felt passionate about.
Itās never OK to attack someone, but reporting is not attacking, it is what we are explicitly told to do if we feel there is an issueā¦ So that admin can handle it and imembers do not feel attacked by another member
@AmiMommyBoutique
Iām so sorry you were attacked,. What you went through sounds awful and it makes me feel sad.
I apologize , for my part, in making you feel this way.
Youāll see a post down below in which I was acting with āRibblrās supportā. I felt passionate about this issue because I had several members share that they had been āripped offā on tester calls. I also felt passionate about people using Ribblrās resources ( including itās members) and not even using Ribblrās features ( testing zone, publishing test pattern elsewhere and not even sending the pattern to the testing tab of members) and in the end not even publishing finished pattern in Ribblr and contributing NOTHING.
So many stories of people being mistreated once they finished jumping through all the Instagram hoops. And even if yoo, @AmiMommyBoutique have the purest intentions, there is no way to know because the well has already been poisoned for many. And like @anoswaldoddity said, many of us also had admin confirmation for our responses.
I felt attacked. Especially since someone went out of their way to comment on an unrelated post about it. And when someone private messaged me about it after reporting it. You may not feel attacked if someone did this but I did. To me, someone was questioning my character.
This response is not related to this issue. It says you cannot send them to Instagram. Not that you cannot ask them to have one. There was a misunderstanding and thatās all. It has been fully clarified now I hope
Oh, I get that a person would be upset by being reported, but if there is an issue, there has to be a path to resolution. One can not let admin take care of it yet also not let admin know about it.
And attacks should never be suffered in silence, they should be reported immediately
Sorry, just saw this post. I understand that people have had issues with Instagram tests. I personally hate the hoops some people make you go through. Iām sorry other people have had poor experiences and I understand wanting to protect other people. And thanks for the apology. I appreciate it.
it was definitely not cool on that personās part to report and attack you 
