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Painting from an Instagram video: Many young children also use the app
Photo: Katie Collins / PA Images / IMAGO
Instagram's effect on the psyche of young people has recently been the subject of heated discussions.
In the course of the publication of internal documents by the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, there were also revelations about the allegedly "toxic" influence of Instagram on some teenagers and their body image.
But it was already clear beforehand: The platform for photos and videos can enrich life, but it can also affect the mood, for example because it constantly confronts you with glossy shots from the apparently perfect lives of other people. In addition, as with almost every social media platform, there is the hunt for likes and attention as well as the fact that there are not only good people in huge online networks. The world of Instagram also has fake profiles, hate comments and adults who want to sexually harass children.
Instagram, which belongs to Facebook or Meta, has now published a guide to help parents of young Instagram users use the platform (here as a PDF).
On 56 pages, which were created in cooperation with the EU initiatives Klicksafe.de and SaferInternet.at as well as the Stop Hate Speech project, the platform's technical protection mechanisms are presented.
But it is also about the responsibility of parents beyond a few simple steps in the app menu.
"When children use social networks, they usually try very hard to remain unobserved by their parents," says the beginning of the guide.
Nevertheless, it is the task of parents to accompany and support their children in the use of social networks.
A good basis for discussion is essential in media education.
Official minimum age: 13 years
For example, parents are advised to take an active interest in their children's online life.
For example, by asking questions like "What do you like about the online world and what doesn't?", "What thoughts do you have when you post something on social media?" Or "Do you know all of your followers?"
It is also proposed to jointly agree on a “digital sunset” - a time from which the child goes offline every evening.
Further suggestions concern the privacy settings of the app, which decide who gets to see your own postings at all. The network’s “Close Friends” list, for example, will be presented, with which it can be determined that so-called stories are only played out to very specific people. The guide also provides instructions for reporting questionable content and for muting or blocking other users.
The guide recommends private accounts for young people.
"Only followers can see the contents of private accounts, and new follower requests require personal confirmation," it says.
»Users * who were not accepted by your teenager cannot comment on their posts and also have no access to their * his / her content in areas such as Explore or hashtags."
In the brochure, Instagram emphasizes that the minimum age for creating an Instagram account is 13 years.
Checking the age of people on the Internet is a complex topic, the platform also writes.
She is aware that young people are not always honest when giving their date of birth.
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