What you need to know
- Instagram has today unveiled new safety measures for teens.
- From next year parents and guardians will be able to see how long their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits.
- It is also setting up a new educational hub for parents and guardians.
Instagram has today announced that from early next year parents and guardians will be able to track how long their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits as part of a new "stricter approach" to protect younger users of its platform.
In a post Tuesday Instagram head Adam Mosseri stated:
Every day I see the positive impact that Instagram has for young people everywhere. I'm proud that our platform is a place where teens can spend time with the people they care about, explore their interests, and explore who they are.I want to make sure that it stays that way, which means above all keeping them safe on Instagram. We'll continue doing research, consulting with experts, and testing new concepts to better serve teens.
Instagram says that in March of 2022 it will launch new tools so that "Parents and guardians will be able to view how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits." It will also give teens the option to notify their parents if they report someone "giving their parents the opportunity to talk about it with them."
Instagram is also developing a new educational hub with tips and tutorials to help parents and guardians discuss social media use with their teens.
Today, Instagram's 'Take a Break' feature is launching in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, that will suggest taking a break after scrolling for a certain amount of time, as well as letting people set reminders to take breaks in the future.
Instagram is also testing new tools that will let people delete content in bulk, as well as their previous likes or comments.
New developing features for teens also include tools to stop people tagging or mentioning teens that don't follow them, and stricter recommendations in Search, Explore, Hashtags, and Suggested Accounts. Instagram says it will also "start nudging teens towards different topics if they've been dwelling on one topic for a while."
You can read the full announcement here.
