Instagram rolling out ‘teen account’ settings, parental supervision updates

[LAUREN TAYOR]

ATTENTION TEENAGE INSTAGRAM USERS – YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THE POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA APP IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.

META ANNOUNCING TUESDAY IT IS IMPLEMENTING NEW “TEEN ACCOUNT” SETTINGS THAT WILL AUTOMATICALLY SWITCH ACCOUNTS FOR USERS UNDER 18 TO PRIVATE AND PLACE THEM UNDER THE STRICTEST MESSAGING SETTINGS.

THIS MEANS ONLY PEOPLE THE TEENS ARE CONNECTED TO ON INSTAGRAM CAN SLIDE INTO THEIR DMS.

THERE WILL ALSO BE LIMITS ON WHO CAN TAG TEENS IN PHOTOS OR COMMENTS. 

TEENS WILL ALSO BE AUTOMATICALLY PLACED INTO THE APP’S MOST RESTRICTIVE CONSENT SETTING WHICH LIMITS THE TYPE OF SENSITIVE MATERIAL TEENS SEE IN THEIR REELS AND EXPLORE PAGES OR REELS – CONTENT LIKE PEOPLE FIGHTING OR POSTS PROMOTING COSMETIC PROCEDURES.  

INSTAGRAM ALSO WANTS TO ALERT TEENS WHEN THEY’VE BEEN SCROLLING FOR TOO LONG – SENDING THEM AN ALERT TO LEAVE THE APP AFTER USING IT FOR 60 MINUTES EACH DAY. 

OTHER FEATURES WILL SEE SLEEP MODE ACTIVATE BETWEEN 10 PM AND 7AM – MUTING NOTIFICATIONS AND SENDING AUTO-REPLIES TO DIRECT MESSAGES.

USERS UNDER THE AGE OF 16 WILL NEED A PARENT’S PERMISSION TO CHANGE THESE TEEN ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

SPEAKING OF PARENTS — THERE ARE CHANGES FOR YOU TOO.

META ADDING UPDATES TO ITS SUPERVISION FEATURE – INCLUDING ALLOWING PARENTS TO SEE WHO THEIR TEEN MESSAGES IN A WEEK, SET A DAILY TOTAL TIME LIMIT, BLOCK USE FOR SPECIFIC TIME PERIODS, AND SEE WHAT TOPICS THEIR TEEN ARE LOOKING AT

IN A STATEMENT — META SAYING QUOTE “We developed Teen Accounts with parents and teens in mind. The new Teen Account protections are designed to address parents’ biggest concerns, including who their teens are talking to online, the content they’re seeing and whether their time is being well spent”

ALL THESE UPDATES COME AS META AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUE TO BE SCRUTINIZED OVER THEIR IMPACT ON TEENS AND KIDS.

IN JANUARY – DURING A SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING  — META CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG PUBLICLY APOLOGIZED TO PARENTS  WHO SAID THEIR CHILDREN WERE HARMED BY SOCIAL MEDIA USE.  

ZUCKERBERG TELLING THE FAMILIES “NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE THINGS THAT YOUR FAMILIES HAVE SUFFERED.”

THIS YEAR THE U.S. SURGEON GENERAL DR. VIVEK MURTHY ISSUED AN ADVISORY ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH – AND WROTE AN OP-ED SAYING SOCIAL MEDIA NEEDS A SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING LABEL.

IN THE MEANTIME — THE CHANGES TO INSTAGRAM WLL ROLL OUT TO NEW USERS STARTING TUESDAY AND EXISTING TEEN USERS SHOULD SEE THEIR ACCOUNT SWITCH WITHIN THE NEXT 60 DAYS.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M LAUREN TAYLOR.

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