How old should you be to have instagram

Continuing to Make Instagram Safer for the Youngest Members of Our Community

March 17, 2021

Protecting young people on Instagram is important to us. Today, we’re sharing updates on new features and resources as part of our ongoing efforts keep our youngest community members safe. We’re also providing an update on our work to understand age in a way that helps keep people — especially young people — safe. We have dedicated teams focused on youth safety, and we work closely with experts to inform the features we develop.

Supporting parents and teens with new resources

We want parents to have the information to help their teens have a safe and positive experience on Instagram. In the US, we’ve collaborated with The Child Mind Institute and ConnectSafely to publish a new Parents Guide. It includes the latest safety tools and privacy settings, as well as a list of tips and conversation starters to help parents navigate discussions with their teens about their online presence. This updated Guide has launched with expert partners in other countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Singapore, and will continue to be rolled out in more countries soon. This also complements our existing Parents’ Guides which provide support for parents in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, and which were developed in partnership with local safety experts.

“Instagram can provide young people the opportunity to strengthen connections, practice social skills and find supportive communities. It’s important that teens and parents are equipped with information on how to manage their time on the platform so that it's thoughtful, safe and intentional. The new Parents Guide we've worked on does a great job of distilling what parents should know about how to support their teens as they navigate social media.”

Dr. Dave Anderson, Clinical Psychologist, Child Mind Institute

Improving our work to understand people's real age

We require everyone to be at least 13 to use Instagram and have asked new users to provide their age when they sign up for an account for some time. While many people are honest about their age, we know that young people can lie about their date of birth. We want to do more to stop this from happening, but verifying people's age online is complex and something many in our industry are grappling with. To address this challenge, we’re developing new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to help us keep teens safer and apply new age-appropriate features, like those described below.

Restricting DMs between teens and adults they don’t follow

To protect teens from unwanted contact from adults, we’re introducing a new feature that prevents adults from sending messages to people under 18 who don’t follow them. For example, when an adult tries to message a teen who doesn’t follow them, they receive a notification that DM’ing them isn’t an option. This feature relies on our work to predict peoples’ ages using machine learning technology, and the age people give us when they sign up. As we move to end-to-end encryption, we’re investing in features that protect privacy and keep people safe without accessing the content of DMs.

“Around the world it's widely understood that most social media platforms require a 13-year minimum age requirement, but the complexity of age verification remains a long-standing, industry-wide challenge. That's why it's positive to see Instagram investing in innovative technologies that can and will create a safer online environment for younger users. By using machine learning to flag potentially inappropriate interactions, improving teen privacy features and DM-ing younger users with realtime safety info, Instagram is equipping young people with tools to be the architects of their own online experience.”

Lucy Thomas, Co-Founder / Co-CEO, PROJECT ROCKIT

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Prompting teens to be more cautious about interactions in DMs

In addition to preventing conversations between adults and teens who don't follow one another, we'll start using prompts — or safety notices — to encourage teens to be cautious in conversations with adults they’re already connected to. Safety notices in DMs will notify young people when an adult who has been exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior is interacting with them in DMs. For example, if an adult is sending a large amount of friend or message requests to people under 18, we’ll use this tool to alert the recipients within their DMs and give them an option to end the conversation, or block, report, or restrict the adult. People will start seeing these in some countries this month, and we hope to have them available everywhere soon.

“There are cases where it is appropriate for adults and teens to interact on Instagram but it’s important that teens be protected against unwanted contact from adults. Requiring that the teen – not the adult – establish the connection empowers teens to protect themselves. It puts them in the driver's seat and gives them more control over their experiences on Instagram.”

Larry Magid, CEO, ConnectSafely.org

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Making it more difficult for adults to find and follow teens

In the coming weeks, we'll start exploring ways to make it more difficult for adults who have been exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior to interact with teens. This may include things like restricting these adults from seeing teen accounts in 'Suggested Users', preventing them from discovering teen content in Reels or Explore, and automatically hiding their comments on public posts by teens.

Encouraging teens to make their accounts private

Having a private account offers more protections for teens as they can better control who can see and interact with their content. We’ve recently added a new step when someone under 18 signs up for an Instagram account that gives them the option to choose between a public or private account. Our aim is to encourage young people to opt for a private account by equipping them with information on what the different settings mean.

We know young people, like aspiring creators or athletes, find value in public accounts. So teens can still opt for a public account if they choose to do so after learning more about the options. If the teen doesn’t choose ‘private’ when signing up, we send them a notification later on highlighting the benefits of a private account and reminding them to check their settings. This is just a first step. We're assessing additional measures we can take to protect young people on Instagram, including additional privacy settings. We'll have more to share in the coming months.

“The introduction of Instagram’s teenage privacy settings is a welcome change to the platform. We know that some young people make the conscious choice to have public profiles, and this new update allows young people to enter a more controlled environment and requires there to be a conscious decision before entering a more public environment, which in itself provides an important educational moment to help prepare for this step. This change is for new users, and we need to work to address this question of user awareness of privacy choices on existing accounts.”

Will Gardner, CEO, Childnet International

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We believe that everyone should have a safe and supportive experience on Instagram. These updates are a part of our ongoing efforts to protect young people, and our specialist teams will continue to invest in new interventions that further limit inappropriate interactions between adults and teens.

Parents' Ultimate Guide to Instagram

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Is Instagram safe? How does it work? And what's a "finsta"? Everything parents need to know about this popular image-sharing app.

By Christine Elgersma | March 10, 2021

Topics: Cellphones and Devices Social Media

When you see a teen taking a selfie, chances are that picture will end up on social media. Often, that means Instagram, one of the most popular social image-sharing platforms in the world. What's all the fuss about?

Teens love Instagram for a lot of reasons, but most importantly, that's where their friends are. They can also keep tabs on their favorite celebrities, follow accounts that align with their interests, and, of course, maintain their own profile (or profiles) that present an image of themselves to their friends -- and sometimes to the world.

As with all social media, the elements that make teens love Instagram can also be breeding grounds for trouble. Depending on whom you follow or what you search for, you can find lots of mature content. And the comments on posts can be downright vicious, especially if an account is public. Then there's the pressure. Lots of kids feel that they have to maintain a perfect profile, so they're constantly scanning posts for likes and deleting ones that don't measure up. And they have to check their feeds all day (and sometimes at night) for updates from friends. Instagram also has a commercial aspect. Embedded ads, celebrity endorsements, and links to buy products are all over kids' feeds.

Still, with some guidance around settings, limits on use, and ongoing conversations about content and comments, Instagram can be a place for kids to connect and be creative. Check out our full review to get even more info.

What is Instagram?

How does Instagram work?

How old should kids be to use Instagram?

What kinds of content will my kid see on Instagram?

How can I monitor my kid's activity on Instagram?

What's the deal with "rinstas" and "finstas"?

Is there any way to limit or restrict my kid's activity on Instagram, including connecting with strangers?

How can my kid block or report other users on Instagram?

What should I do if it seems like my kid can't stop looking at Instagram?

What are some other risks associated with kids using Instagram?

Are there any potential benefits to my kid using Instagram?

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a popular, free social networking app that lets users post photos and videos, follow celebrities and friends, and send messages. It's owned by Facebook but has a photo-forward format that's more appealing to teens.

How does Instagram work?

Once you create an account, you get your feed going by following friends and celebrities (Instagram helpfully suggests some for you). When you're ready to share a post, tap the plus sign and select what you want to share from your recent photos and videos. Depending on the media type you're sharing, you can choose from all sorts of filters and image-editing tools to make your post look cool. Then you add a caption and a hashtag if you wish (which categorizes all posts on the same topic together). You get the option of adding a location to your post, but it's not recommended that kids and teens use this function. Instagram offers a lot more features, too, including:

Direct messages (DMs). You can send direct messages to one or more people -- including people you don't follow and who don't follow you.
Disappearing messages. This is a Snapchat-like feature that lets you send timed photo or video messages that recipients can only view once before they disappear.
Stories. These are 15-second videos or slideshows that live in a circle separate from other posts. To create one, tap Your Story, tap the camera or scroll through your media, and swipe through the filters to add effects. Then select Send To to share your post on Instagram or Facebook, or with specific people or groups.

How old should kids be to use Instagram?

According to the terms of service, you have to be 13, but there's no age-verification process, so it's very easy for kids under 13 to sign up. Common Sense rates Instagram for age 15 and up because of mature content, access to strangers, marketing ploys, and data collection. Check out our social media rules for high schoolers.

What kinds of content will my kid see on Instagram?

The kinds of content kids will see mostly depends on whom they follow: If they only follow friends and don't search for anything, they may see only pictures of their friends having fun. But kids rarely limit their feeds to people they know, so it's likely they'll see mature content (including sexy stuff, swearing, and substance use), mean or sexual comments, and hashtags about suicide, anorexia, and other concerning topics. If they follow celebrities, they'll probably also see marketing.

How can I monitor my kid's activity on Instagram?

You can ask your kid to give you a tour of their Insta. Ask them to walk you through their account, explain memes and comments, discuss friends, and share whatever comes up. Or try one of these ideas:

Create your own Instagram account and follow your kid. You'll see what they post (unless they block you), but you won't see their DMs (direct messages).
Follow their friends. It's not unusual for parents to be friends with their kids' friends online (but you should hold back on comments). If you're close with your kids' friends, you can follow each other and keep tabs on your kid's doings.
Ask for your kid's Instagram username and password. Then, you can log in as them and review their accounts.
Do spot checks. Either random or scheduled, these check-ins give you time to sit down together and go through your kid's feed.
Install a third-party monitoring app. Parental controls such as Bark give you a lot of visibility into what kids are doing online. Learn more about parental controls.

What's the deal with "rinstas" and "finstas"?

Rinstas and finstas are additional Instagram accounts that are completely separate from each other. Finsta stands for "fake Instagram," and these accounts reflect a kid's true self and are only meant for very close friends to see. Rinsta is a kid's "real" Instagram that's public-facing and highly curated, and they project the type of ideal online persona that's hard to achieve in reality. In other words, their "real" account is the public one everyone can find and see.

Not every kid maintains more than one account, but don't be alarmed if your kid does. Instagram allows users to keep up to five accounts. As long as they follow responsible social media practices such as using privacy settings, not posting things they'll regret, and limiting their audience, finstas and rinstas can be useful tools as kids go through the natural process of figuring out their identities.

To see whether your kid has more than one account, you'll need access to their phone. Go to their profile page by tapping the person icon at the bottom of the screen. Then tap the username at the top of the screen. If they have another account, you'll see it there. Another option is to stay logged in to their account(s) on your device so you can see all their activity. While you're at it, it's a good idea to make sure your kid's account names aren't too racy or revealing. Lots of kids include their ages, personal details, or even physical characteristics in their handles, but that can make them a target for predators as well as brands. Also, check to make sure your kid didn't create an account that's meant for a business. You'll know if the account information contains a phone number and an email address.

Is there any way to limit or restrict my kid's activity on Instagram, including connecting with strangers?

Instagram accounts are public by default, so the first thing to do is make your kid's private. To do this, go to Settings from your profile page. Select Privacy and toggle on Private Account. With a private account, only people you approve can see what you post. You get a lot of options in the Privacy section -- and you should spend some time here if you're helping your kid set up their first account. You can't lock Privacy settings, though, so be aware that kids can change them back. A few more key Instagram privacy settings:

Comment controls. You can limit comments to followers, block comments from specific people, hide "offensive" comments, and create specific filters for words and phrases.
Resharing to stories. You can control whether or not other people can reshare your posts.
Photos and videos. You can prevent people from automatically adding pictures of you to your profile without your approval and hide photos and videos so they don't display in your feed.

How can my kid block or report other users on Instagram?

Tap on the three dots next to the account name. You'll see options to report, mute, or unfollow that person. Another way to minimize interactions with someone is to use the Restrict option (in the Privacy settings) to screen someone's comments without them knowing. If a person is really determined, however, it's not hard for them to create a new account and start making contact with your kid under a different name.

Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes for some of Instagram's other bullying issues. The app tries to reduce potential problems by flagging comments that sound mean-spirited before they're posted -- which may make the person being aggressive think twice. But kids can still create "hate pages" that are designed to make fun of specific people or even imposter accounts that drag someone's reputation. You can report these types of accounts, but it can turn into a game of whack-a-mole -- and Instagram is notoriously unresponsive to reporting. Teach your kids when and how to use blocking and reporting (and make sure they know that they'll remain anonymous if they use any of Instagram's protective features). If you can't get rid of a bully, you may need more support from the school or other parents.

What should I do if it seems like my kid can't stop looking at Instagram?

All social media uses persuasive techniques to keep users engaged, and while it can help kids feel connected to friends and family -- especially during times of isolation like extended school breaks -- it's easy to get sucked in for longer periods than is healthy. If your teen has trouble logging off when they have other stuff to do or they just need a break, you can try using Instagram's Your Activity feature, which the company introduced to help people be more aware of the time they're spending on the app and to set limits for themselves. To get to Your Activity, go to the profile page, tap the three horizontal lines, select Your Activity, and then tap Time. You'll see your daily average, and you can set a time limit and get a reminder to stop. If your kid has mastered self-regulation, Your Activity may work to curb their use. If not, you can try using the parental controls built into your phone's operating system (Screen Time on iOS or the Family Link app on Android) to block access and set time limits on all the apps on your kid's phone. A few other tricks: Adjust or turn off notifications completely to calm the need to check the phone every few minutes; and tell kids to stop scrolling once they see the "You're all caught up!" message that tells them there's no new content to see since the last time they checked.

What are some other risks associated with kids using Instagram?

Because Instagram is so image-based, kids who focus on external validation can get preoccupied with perfection, image, and status, which can negatively affect their well-being. It's not uncommon for some users to curate their feed for public consumption by uploading only photos and videos that show them at their best and by deleting posts that don't get a certain number of likes. And with so many filters and celebrities and posts of people having fun, it can definitely affect a teen's body image and sense of self. Some people even take risks to get the perfect shot, all for Instagram. To keep up, teens may post sexy pictures or reveal too much personal information. The effects of "influencers" are real, so knowing whom your kid follows and why might give you insight into who they admire and what products that person might be pushing (note that there's often a way to buy right from the app). As with any other social media app that includes likes and follows, some teens use those as a measuring stick and compare themselves to others. If your kid's activity on the app takes a turn from connection and fun to perfection and anxiety, it's time to take a break. Using it to scroll through other people's fabulous photos for long stretches every day without using it to joke with friends or send messages can make teens feel worse than when they opened the app.

Are there any potential benefits to my kid using Instagram?

Teens who use Instagram as a way to express themselves -- for example by posting art, poetry, and videos that showcase their talents -- tend to have positive experiences with the app. When used in balance with other activities and with purpose (not just endless, mindless scrolling), kids can come away from the app feeling connected and supported.

If you decide to let your teen use Instagram, there are some steps you can take to help them get the most positives and fewest negatives. You can sit down and go through the app and its settings with them, note your concerns, lay out the expectations and potential consequences, talk through whatever controls you might use (including spot checks), and set boundaries around when, where, how, and whom they can communicate with to get off to a solid start.

Instagram requires you to enter your age. Why is it necessary and what to do

Despite the fact that Instagram is published mainly by an adult audience, the content there is much more restrained than on any Twitter. The social network carefully ensures that users not only do not post frank, shocking or misleading photos or videos in the feed, but do not even leave offensive comments. Apparently, therefore, as such, there were never any age restrictions on Instagram. But now everything has changed dramatically.

Instagram began to require age

How to download photos from Instagram to your phone

Instagram has introduced a new rule that requires users to indicate their age without fail. This is a key condition for accessing the service, which cannot be bypassed. It is impossible - not in the meaning of “forbidden”, but in the meaning of “impossible”, because this will be monitored by a special neural network, which will instantly understand that they are trying to deceive it.

Instagram asks for date of birth

You will have to specify your age if you want to continue using Insta

The changes introduced by Instagram will be noticed only by those users who have not previously indicated their date of birth. For the rest, nothing will change, and they will be able to continue using the service as before without restrictions. However, those who missed this moment at the stage of registration or filling out a profile will be asked to fill in the gap.

The requirement to indicate the date of birth in the profile settings follows for security reasons, explained on Instagram. Therefore, whether the age specified by the user matches the real one will be monitored very strictly. Especially for this purpose, the service has trained a neural network that will reveal the true age. True, it is not clear how to do this if the user does not have his own photos in his profile.

How to make Instagram Stories the right way. Application examples

Most likely, you will need to confirm your age with a photograph. yourself or your document. Personally, I'm leaning towards the first option. Still, the collection of documents requires more responsibility, which the service itself hardly needs. But asking the user to take a selfie is much easier. Moreover, some services already use such methods.

However, this is not so important. And the important thing is that Instagram will block the entrance for users who either did not indicate their age or indicated the wrong one. I don’t know if the neural network will detect lies if you downplay your years, but it will definitely identify and block those who exaggerate them. True, not forever, but until the moment of correction.

Instagram Age Restrictions

Instagram will filter content based on the user's age

Based on the user's age, Instagram will filter content that matches the user. Thus, publications with explicit or shocking content will be hidden from those who have not yet reached the age of majority. This limitation cannot be bypassed. So the service plans to deal with unwanted content by narrowing its audience based on age.

This will limit the display of not only publications, but also advertisements. That is, Instagram will know whether you can recommend alcoholic drinks or other products that have age restrictions or not. In the future, it is planned to limit some of the regular functions of the application for young users.

Instagram Lite: how is it different from the usual one, why is it needed and how to download it

Instagram intends to prohibit older users from directing underage users unless their accounts are controlled by adults. In essence, this is what Apple wants to do with its iMessage service, shielding children from pornographic and other explicit content. Especially if their parents do not know what their child is watching.

It is likely that age limits vary from country to country. It's all about what age local laws recognize as the age of majority. For example, in the USA it is considered 21 years old, and in Russia - 18 years. So it’s worth waiting for regional differences in Instagram policy. By and large, there is nothing difficult in implementing changes depending on the country.

how to see? — LiveDune Blog

If you are looking for accounts for advertising, but are afraid to drain your budget and fall into the hands of scammers, then collect as much information as possible about someone else's account. Instagram allows you to do this in the application itself. The data will also be useful in the analysis of competitors.

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How to find out information about your Instagram account

dots in the upper right corner. Then select "Account Information". Unfortunately, Instagram allows you to view data only for accounts with a large reach or that advertise on Instagram. The social network positions this as protecting accounts from falsification and fighting spam.

What information can be seen on Instagram about the account

Date of registration of the Instagram account. This will allow you to indirectly verify the reliability of the account, because. many newly registered profiles are created to spam or scam.

Match the registration date with the number of subscriptions. For example, an account created a week ago is unlikely to have more than 1000 subscriptions, i.e. the possibility of cheating is not excluded.

Check accounts

Check your account for likes and followers before buying ads

Country. Specified based on its actual location. For example, the user lives in Italy, but in the publications indicates the geolocation of Moscow. In the "Account Information" section, Italy will be indicated.

Active announcements. Previously, in this tab, you could immediately see active account ads in the feed and in stories. Now Instagram has moved this feature to Facebook. In the article "How to see ads of competitors on Instagram" there is a step-by-step instruction on how to do this.

This information is very useful before launching your own ads - to see what creative and format competitors are using, as it is highly likely that they have already tested different options and use the ones that are most successful in terms of audience response.

Previous Instagram usernames. With the help of this information, you can draw conclusions whether the real account is in front of you or not (compare with the date of registration). Instagram has been analyzing data history since September 2017. If the name has changed, there will be an arrow on the left opposite the parameter, click and the history of changes will be available to you: date and previous name. Theoretically, using this information, you can understand whether the account was bought for the sake of subscribers and subsequently renamed.

Some people change their name even after scandalous situations in order to get lost. For example, company N produced a low-quality product. Customers began to write negative reviews, indicating the name of the company (in the marks). In order not to spoil its reputation, the company simply changed its name on Instagram. Thus, the name of the account in the reviews becomes invalid, and it will be difficult to find this dishonest company. It is thanks to information on previous names that such companies can be brought to clean water.

Accounts with common followers. Previously, in this tab, you could find accounts that have many common followers with the account you are viewing. This information was useful for commercial purposes - for mutual PR or advertising. For example, using this information, it was possible to replace one blogger with another, while retaining the audience to which the advertisement would be broadcast.

At the moment, this method is very rare: bloggers have seen this trick and began to hide "Account Information", or there are no public accounts that have enough common followers with the desired account.

Therefore, it is better to find accounts with a similar audience - through "Recommended to you". To do this, go to the account of interest and click on the arrow next to the contacts. You will be presented with other accounts with a similar audience by interests.

Try for free

Post statistics, subscriber dynamics, engagement rate and much more on other people's accounts can be viewed in LiveDune.

Conclusion

In order for Instagram to be attractive to advertisers and less likely to encounter fraud, the social network is gradually making its platform transparent and information publicly available. But from these data, unfortunately, only indirect conclusions can be drawn. Therefore, finding out information about the Instagram page from the application is only the first step. And in order to analyze the profiles of interest in more detail, at least for cheats, engagement and dynamics of subscribers, we recommend using LiveDune tools.