That claim could hold water, as most social media platforms have some sort of detrimental effect on youths. The spread of misinformation, inappropriate videos, and dangerous trends only make up a fraction of the overall threat. Because of this, parents need more tools to help monitor their kids’ activities.
Instagram launches parental controls
Thankfully, Instagram has provided its own set of tools. The meta-owned company has been at odds with several governmental entities over the pernicious nature of its content. Because of this, Meta received a lot of pushback when it proposed a kid version of the app. That didn’t pan out, but the company is giving us the next best thing. Today, Instagram introduced Family Center, a hub with useful parental controls. Right off the bat, we can tell that Instagram is jumping through some loopholes, as it specifically refers to “teens” and not “kids”. The government really did not want Instagram targeting kids in any way. With Family Center, you can be the ultimate helicopter parent and monitor what your kid is doing on the platform. This means you can get a report on how much time they’re spending on the app with daily metrics. If you see that your child has been on too long, you can actually set a time limit. Not only that but you can see who your kids follow and who follows them. That’s super important because you’d want to know who your kid is contacting. When your child gets a new follower, you’ll get a notification on your phone.
Family Center puts everyone on the same page
One thing that’s unique about Family Center is that you can see what your child sees, and your child sees what you see. Both of you see the same screen. In the introductory video, it says it’s so that everyone is on the same page. That’s something that some people probably wouldn’t like. Most parents like to steer the plane rather than co-pilot. However, if this encourages a more open understanding of the boundaries, then Instagram might have something. If you want to enable this feature, be sure you’re on the latest version of Instagram (version 227.0.0.0.97). Go to your settings and head down to the Supervision section. From there, you’ll be able to navigate to the Family Center and start setting everything up.
