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Zoe is a nutritionist and single parent who lives in Lancashire with her two children, aged 12 and 14.

Both of her children regularly use Instagram, having been allowed accounts in the last year. See how Instagram Teen Accounts have impacted their use.

How did your children start using Instagram Teen Accounts?

“They were both automatically moved to the new Teen Accounts, and I liked that because it was very simple for me,” says Zoe. “They’ve always had supervised accounts but the new features that kicked in are simple, and mostly really useful.”

Zoe says that some of the features in the new Instagram Teen Accounts replicate controls she already has through Google. However, features like the requirement to ask permission to switch from a private to a public account are new – and appreciated. “Before that, they could potentially have set their accounts public while in their bedroom, and I wouldn’t have any way to know,” she says.

What do your teens think about it?

The changes have not been welcomed by both of Zoe’s children. Her son, who is 14, feels that he is old enough to ‘own’ his own social media accounts and does not like having to ask permission to make changes. He also finds the automatic sleep mode very restrictive.

After a lot of debate from both children, Zoe agreed to turn off the sleep mode restriction feature, because they were so different to what the family had previously used. “We have a Google app that has screen time controls, and the Instagram controls were very different to those, which they felt was really unfair. Eventually, I realised I could go in and edit those settings and turn that feature off,” she explains.

Zoe had already discussed with both children the importance of online safety when the accounts were first created. “Ultimately, it’s about making their social media experience better, and safer, and ensuring they’re not accessing content that isn’t appropriate for them to see at their age,” she says.

What has your experience been?

Overall the new features are working well for the family, although Zoe herself has found that the controls can limit communication. Recently, she tried to share a video of a pop singer with her daughter, but the video was blocked because Instagram had deemed that content wasn’t appropriate for a 12-year-old. However, she sees this feature and other restrictions as appropriate for teens.

Additionally, the one feature Zoe feels is missing is the ability to restrict the activity of spam and bot accounts. “I’d prefer if those accounts were automatically blocked from having any access to children’s accounts,” she says. “At the moment, they are able to still request to follow, which does concern me given some of the content on those accounts.”

Zoe’s top tip to parents navigating Instagram Teen Accounts is to create profiles for children that use their real ages from the start. Initially, Zoe’s son put in a date of birth that made him appear older and it took Zoe over a month of talking to Instagram to have that changed.

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