It’s normal to worry about kids and teens on the internet, especially on social media platforms. In an attempt to make things easier, Instagram has become significantly safer for younger users with the addition of Teen Accounts.
These accounts feature built-in protections that limit teens’ exposure to certain content and restrict who can contact them. All existing accounts for users younger than 16 will be moved to teen accounts, and a parent’s permission will be needed to change any of the settings.
Here’s a breakdown of the features you should know about:
- By default, teen accounts are private. Teens have to accept new followers and anyone who doesn’t follow them cannot see their content or even message them.
- That extends to messaging and tagging, too. Only someone a teen follows can send them a message or tag them in content. This feature comes alongside another called Hidden Words, which automatically filters out offensive and abusive words and phrases.
- After 60 minutes, teens will receive a notification to close the app. As teens say, the app will tell them to take a break.
- Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., Instagram notifications are muted, and messages receive auto-replies.
- All teen accounts are automatically placed under sensitive content restrictions. This means that violent images, Reels that promote cosmetic procedures, and other less-than-appropriate content will be filtered out.
One of the core elements of this update is controlling what teens are exposed to. Another new feature is coming to Teen Accounts (but should really come to all accounts) that allows the user to select the topics they’re interested in, and more of these topics will be shown in Explore. Topics include animals and pets, dance, crafts, road trips, and more.
Parental protections
The features listed above can help keep a teen safe, but parents can take things further and monitor their kids’ accounts through the Supervision feature. Keep in mind that this doesn’t grant total access, but it does let parents take a pek at their children’s online activity.
For example, you’ll be able to see who your teen has messaged (but not read those messages). You can also set a daily time limit for Instagram, or restrict access during specific time periods. Parents also have access to a feature that lets them see the topics their teen has interacted with.
But wait, you might say, they could lie about their age. Instagram has already thought about that and is implementing even more age verification processes and “building technology to proactively find accounts belonging to teens.”
Starting today, eligible new accounts will automatically be put into Teen Accounts. Existing accounts will begin the migration next week. Instagram expects the process to be completed within 60 days in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K., with the safety features coming to accounts in the EU later this year.