It is nothing new that Instagram continually changes its features and algorithms to make sure that the channels stay as popular it is. Moreover, there is a constant effort put in by the powers that be to keep this site safe for use, whether it is by a responsible individual, a business owner, or a casual teenager.
Recently, Instagram has added age checks for the new accounts. The new options ensure restricted social media messaging.
- This is a specific process wherein the users will be required to furnish their date of birth while signing up for a new account on this popular photo and video sharing platform.
- This process has resolved a significant issue: It has eliminated the chances of people below 13 years of age signing up to this app which was easy till now since there were no such checks imposed
However, this form of checking will not eliminate the problem completely. It will simply add an extra measure for enforcement, which will prevent the underage users to sign in the app. Instagram states that:
This information furnished by the users are only for the internal purpose and will not be visible to others.
This information will also help them to enable those users who have exported their date of birth information from their Facebook account to get connected.
They also say that adding this additional measure will protect young social media users, which is a significant concern of people as well as the developers.
Several other social channels such as Facebook have such a basic form of checks for years, and Instagram now adds it to their platform. Well, this does not mean there will be no underage users because the tech-savvy young generation knows the ways in which they can skip such requirements. This means that there is a need for another enforcement and detection tool.
Expanding the option
With this new feature added, believe it or not, it has expanded the option for Instagram. Hoping to make it even more useful, Instagram is contemplating on age-gate business accounts as well.
According to research report, it is revealed that a large number of young users actually convert their personal Instagram profiles into business accounts. They do in order to:
- Get more access to in-depth audience data
- Know more about the performance of different posts and
- In response to the feature of Instagram to hide total like counts.
In order to reduce such a trend, Instagram recently took reverse engineering into account and added a new test in its back-end. Now the app includes a ‘Minimum age qualifier’ to create business accounts.
However, there is a catch here:
Instagram needs to focus on the sensitive contact information that the users need to furnish for signing up being exposed to a large number of social media audiences. There are a few critical elements in this information, such as:
- Their email addresses
- Phone numbers and others.
According to research, there are more than two million Instagram accounts for users who fall within the age group of 12 to 15 years. With their email addresses and phone numbers listed publicly on this platform, this is a significant issue in terms of privacy in social media.
- Industry experts and reliable marketing channels like Stormlikes.com predict that this is to be the most likely the next step that the app developers will take to make secure.
- Apart from the new age requirements imposed, Instagram is also executing new controls in this app for social messaging.
This will enable the users to choose the people they want to message them. This is another great and effective step to provide young users with more protection in particular.
The fact that Instagram has shifted its focus to safety and wellbeing in 2019 is good news as the potential benefits of such requirements and regulations will not only be enjoyed by the young users but also be applied to a wide and diverse range of cases. It is for this reason that this app has grown and is continually expanding top become the most popular social media channel with the most significant number of followers.
All these new tools and upgrades may not be flashy but plays a critical role in the safety and security aspect. Therefore, the importance, benefits, and regulations asserted by these tools are welcome.
Guide for parents
Instagram has also published a new guide for parents as well to ensure that the teens use this app safely and are secure while being on the social media platforms. In order to be more specific, Instagram has published two specific books in this respect, one for the teens and one for the parents.
- These books will help them both to understand the ways to use the app more safely.
- It will also help them to understand better the ways in which they can manage and handle the potential psychological influences of navigating the feed.
These books are designed with an intent to promote awareness among the parents about the measures to take to protect the mental and emotional health of the teens and the young adult users of this app.
About the guide books
These guide books for the teens and parents contain useful insights and a wide range of instructions. It also tells the readers about other different things such as:
- The working process of the platform
- The behind the scenes happenings for each user and
- The ways in which they can decrease unhealthy comparison.
The teen guide, in addition to the above, includes a series of interactive quizzes as well as summary rundowns. These are based on the answers of the readers and are specifically designed to help all Instagram users to know the different perspectives in which they can use this app.
The guide for parents, on the other hand, tells about what they should look for in the young users as well as the warning signs that indicate that they are suffering from depression as well as about the tools that will help them to improve their online social experience.