Instagram for Kids is the new trending buzz. While this may initially sound disturbing to parents, the good thing is the parental supervision and control feature that is a part of this endeavor. The focus is not only on content appropriate for kids but also on security in terms of them coming in contact with certain adults. Instagram’s idea of developing a social space for kids is well thought of, which is why it allows and enables parents to keep an eye on their children’s safety and security.
What would social media for kids look like? What benefits of supervision can parents enjoy? Let us look at the range of features that Instagram offers with this new brilliant idea that it is pushing ahead. We hope that Instagram succeeds in creating a child-friendly platform that isn’t a source of worry to parents and is a healthy social space for the kids who use it. Let us take a better look at the news that seems to be stealing all the other social media thunder.
Facebook is developing an Instagram for Kids under the age of 13
Just a week ago, news circulated that Facebook was developing an app for kids under 13 years of age. As we all know today, most social media platforms are pretty restrictive to kids and do not allow children or minors under the age of 13. This scenario is done to ensure that children are not exposed to obscene or vulgar content. Instagram for marketing is the most common these days and it’s has nothing related to kids. Instagram is no exception to this specific rule, and as we all know, Instagram was acquired by Facebook a decade ago.
Although the news is not official yet, it seems to be all but confirmed. Facebook announced this internally to some of its employees, and it seems to have made it through to the world. Facebook has been trying to expand its market to kids for a while, and if they can get this right, they could quickly gain a vast database. In 2017, Facebook experimented with Messenger kids. This app was for children to communicate but with parents getting control over what happens. The concept for Instagram for children below 13 could be very similar. The key areas are for them to figure out how to make sure that children use it.
While some have liked this idea, others have criticized it heavily as it seems to be micromanaging children’s lives. We speak about privacy and its protection, but some people believe that Facebook could, in fact, be ruining children’s privacy with this app. Regardless, little can be known till an app is rolled out to the public.
Is Instagram Safe for Kids?
Parents from all over the world are always wary of their kids using social media. There are many threats out there on social media, and parents always want to protect their kids. Instagram is an app that tried to make sure that no child under 13 can sign up on the app, but some kids still lie about their ages and can’t be helped. However, Instagram is trying to create an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that tries to understand the user’s age and, as a result, eliminates any kid who may be lying about their age. This technology will require extensive testing once developed and will take time too.
As an app, Instagram tries to be more safe and secure for kids using it every single day. Various efforts are put into each new update to make it safe and completely secure. A guide feature was introduced in some countries in a recent update to make the app safer than expected to be rolled out in more countries very soon. One of the critical strategies Instagram plans to have is to keep adults away from kids. Many kids face the danger of coming into contact with adults on Instagram.
Increased Protection
One of the significant upsides to this is the upcoming feature that does not let adults follow kids below 18 years of age. Various people of a shady nature target kids below 18 and Instagram tries daily to minimize this as much as possible. Under the new feature, adults will not be able to follow children below 18 to enhance their privacy.
Private Policy
Another upcoming feature for Instagram will be making sure that kids are using private accounts. Many kids still find value in public accounts thanks to today’s influencers and celebrities, but Instagram will spread awareness as much as possible. Children will be briefed about the benefits of such accounts and will be persuaded to set their private accounts. While this does not guarantee anything, it is expected to have an impact on many kids.
Creating Awareness
Various adults who want to interact with many minors have certain habits that can be deduced. For example, such an adult will try and engage in conversations with not just one but many kids. If an adult shows such similar traits, Instagram plans to release features that will DM the minor informing them about this.
All of the features mentioned above heavily depend on the credibility of the children’s age while signing up and the future AI Instagram’s ability to confirm people’s age. It isn’t easy to verify the activity and cross-check people’s ages on Instagram, but the app is trying to develop an innovative solution soon.
Control your Child’s Social Media Usage
Having tabs on your child’s social media usage is extremely important, especially when you cannot entirely overrule your child’s gadget time. As parents, it is essential to keep suitable safety measures to take care of the same. Your child should have regulated access to content out there on social media. Every parent should take care of this since most of the content on such platforms isn’t ideal for children. Instagram’s new child-friendly policy will not only allow your child to have a friendly gadget time; it will also make sure your child has access to only stuff that is suitable for their age.
How to Set-up an Instagram Parental Control Feature on a Child’s Mobile Phone?
Enabling Instagram parental controls is easy and necessary when your child has the app on their phone. Thanks to new Instagram policies, you need not rely on external security apps to enforce this feature anymore. Here are some easy ways to enable Instagram parental control on your child’s phone without much trouble.
It is essential that you first set your child’s account as private. Since Instagram accounts are open by default, you specifically need to make sure you turn on the private mode through the settings. Secondly, you can easily remove unwanted followers from your child’s profile by clicking on the three dots, followed by the remove option. Blocking offensive comments and spam accounts is also easily possible.
This scenario makes sure your child is a part of a safe community that does not take a toll on anyone’s mental health. Another suitable parental control method is turning off comments on your child’s posts to make sure no unnecessary social media momentum starts coming their way.
Key Takeaways
The question still remains are social media sites safe for kids? However, with these fundamental policies, coupled with Instagram’s new kid-friendly features, are enough to make sure you can put aside some of your daily worries when it is about your child using Instagram.
