Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms across the entire globe and with its popularity, rises its influencing power. The platform serves as an influential platform as well, just like any other social media website including Facebook. In the past Facebook Inc. that owns Instagram has been highly criticized for its plans to launch ‘Instagram for Kids’ and the talks of children’s safety and privacy on the platform have been going on since forever.
In that regard, according to recent reports, Facebook Inc. and Instagram have announced to make Instagram a secure platform for kids and young teenagers by making a few changes.
First and foremost, Instagram will now default young teenagers’ accounts to ‘Private’ instead of ‘Public’ to save them from the prying eyes of bad actors and bad influences. Thus, teenagers under the age of 16 years will now create a Private account on Instagram by default, though teenagers as young as 13 years old can still opt for a ‘Public’ account if they wish, as mentioned in a report by Engadget. However, Instagram says that nine out of ten accounts of new young teenagers have accepted the default ‘private’ account during sign-up which means that this feature is a success when it comes to having more non-public accounts of young teens on Instagram.
In addition to this, Instagram is making some major changes to make teenagers less visible on the platform, saving them for advertisers. Facebook Inc. is testing to set limits on advertisers’ ability to target young teenagers on Instagram with targeted advertisements. With this privacy feature in place, advertisers will not be able to collect granular information from young teenagers’ accounts to make them prey for their targeted ads. Young users need to be protected and saved from the real world of social media, at least until they fully understand the medium.
Anyhow, even this attempt by Instagram will not be able to fully isolate young teenagers’ accounts on the platform because advertisers will still be able to collect broad demographic information such as age, location, and gender of the young teenager. But Instagram’s attempt will surely save teens from third-party apps and websites.
Even for those young teenagers who have chosen to keep their accounts public, Instagram is making it difficult for adults to interact with teenagers on the platform. As mentioned in a report by Engadget, Instagram says that they have developed a new technology that makes it easier for the platform to identify potentially suspicious behavior in adults who could pose a risk to teenagers on Instagram.
Well, Facebook Inc. is actively working to keep teenagers safe on Instagram and reportedly, the company is also set to collaborate with experts in child development to make Instagram a safe platform for young teenagers.
