USA TODAY International Edition
Instagram updates safety, privacy tools
Teenage users to receive warnings to be cautious
Instagram wants to make its teenage users feel safer.
The Facebook- owned app announced that it is updating its safety tools and privacy settings for its users between the ages of 13 to 17, according to a blog post released Tuesday. Some of the features include:
• Using AI and machine learning to help verify the age of its younger users.
• Help Instagram’s teen users clearly know the differences between having a public and private account when they join.
• If they choose to have a public account, notifying them about “the benefits of a private account,” including having more protections and control of their account.
Other features include restricting the way adults contact teen IG users via direct messaging, especially if the youths don’t already follow them on Instagram.
The app says it’s making it more difficult for adults with bad intentions to find and follow teen users through sections including the Explore and Reels sections, which lets users make short videos similar to rival TikTok.
“We want to make sure our teen users are equipped to control their experiences and the interactions that they are having,” said Vaishnavi J, Instagram’s head of safety.
Additionally, Instagram’s teen users also will receive safety notices warning them to be cautious in chats with adults, even those they connected with on the app.
“Instagram can provide young people the opportunity to strengthen connections, practice social skills and find supportive communities,” Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, said in the blog post.
The new features are part of Instagram’s updated parents’ guide, a collaboration with nonprofits The Child Mind Institute and ConnectSafely.
They are a way to keep pace with apps like TikTok that also have control features for teen users – and their parents seeking safer measures, said Christine Elgersma, a social media editor for the nonprofit Common Sense Media who has also written a parents’ guide about Instagram.
About 72% of teens use Instagram, according to a 2018 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. And 73% of U. S. teens say Instagram is the best way for brands to reach them about new products or promotions ( hello, Kylie Jenner), cites a 2019 eMarketer survey.
However, during the pandemic, as some teens may be experiencing periods of loneliness and isolation due to quarantining and social distancing, Instagram, TikTok, and competitor Snapchat have also become a means of coping and maintaining relationships with their peers.
“For the most part, kids are having fun and connecting with friends,” said Elgersma. “But there have been, as in all social media, kids getting bullied to absolute despair, pressures to look a certain way and having contact with online predators. So it’s important for kids to know what they need to do in those circumstances.”
Elgersma thinks Instagram’s increased attempts to protect its younger users is commendable. She said as the mother of an 11- year- old daughter who’s already asking for a smartphone, the discussion has begun about how to use social media.
“I think it’s a very good effort, but of course, there’s always more than can be done,” she said. “It’s challenging.”
“I think it’s a very good effort, but of course, there’s always more than can be done. It’s challenging.” Christine Elgersma An editor for the nonprofit Common Sense Media