Instagram has announced the arrival of “Teen Accounts” on the platform. The category applies to users under the age of 16 and, similar to TikTok, applies automatic protections to provide a better experience on the network.
The new feature was introduced by the head of the social network, Adam Mosseri, and detailed in an official Meta publication. Basically, the “Teen Accounts” category aims to provide more peace of mind and support to parents regarding their children's routine on social media.
By default, all Instagram users under the age of 16 will be classified as “Teen Accounts”. Within this category, settings and restrictions can only be changed with the authorization of the responsible adult.
“The new Teen Account protections are designed to address some of the most common concerns parents have, including who their teens are chatting with online, what content they’re viewing, and whether their time on the app is being used wisely,” Meta says. Special settings include:
- Accounts are private by default;
- Only mutual followers can send messages;
- The most restrictive setting for sensitive content control is applied;
- Teen accounts can only be tagged or mentioned by followers;
- Time limit reminder is activatedinforming you to close the app after 60 minutes a day;
- Sleep mode is activated between 10pm and 7am.
This isn’t the first time Instagram has implemented specific settings for younger users — though it’s the most robust yet. In January of this year, for example, the platform introduced a rest warning for teenagers who use the app at night.
More supervision options
On the side of the responsible adult, Important new features for parental control have also been added. New features include:
- O guardian can see who the teenager is talking tobut does not have access to the conversation;
- It is possible to set a daily time limit for the use of Instagram, being able to increase or decrease the default limit;
- It is possible to block teenagers from accessing Instagram during specific periods;
- Instagram shows you the topics your teen has chosen to view based on their interests.
All new features will be added to the “Supervisory Feature” package.
New feature is released for everyone
As New Teen Accounts go live this Tuesday (17)According to Instagram, children under 16 who already use Instagram will receive a notification about the changes in settings and will have the restrictions applied next week.
Meta plans to roll out the new status to all teens within 60 days, starting in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The rest of the world will begin receiving the new status in January.