Social media is growing in the everyday lives of teens, on average teens spend about five hours on social media a day. As the conversation of social media is on the rise Instagram is trying to make social media more secure for underage users.

On Sept. 16, Instagram announced that users under the age of 18 on Instagram will have protections on their accounts. The protections include limits in who a teen can and can’t DM, who can follow their account, what their feed shows, and the amount of time they are able to spend in the app. The protections also allow parents to manage these protections. The changes to teen Instagram accounts will apply for new members of Instagram under the age of 18. For existing underage users, they will start implementing the protections in early 2025. The goal is to expand the protections to all Meta apps, which includes Facebook and Threads.

The new restrictions might feel limiting to some teenagers. However, this is an opportunity to improve media literacy amongst young users.

Instagram’s new restrictions can provide a sense of security for parents when their children are on the app, creating a discussion about social media use as a whole. By allowing parents to manage their child’s account, this is an opportunity for parents to guide their children online, teaching them rights and wrongs and developing media literacy. Showing children how to be responsible and accountable when on Instagram will also help other social media apps take a step in the right direction when it comes to underage users.

Under age users should understand that following these guidelines is for their safety. Users who are affected should allow parents to link their accounts and apply the restrictions. For teens against these restrictions, it only applies until adulthood or if their guardians give permission to lift the restrictions. If these guidelines are followed, Instagram will have a safer online environment.

As social media becomes a larger and larger part of everyday life, parents are getting scared of what their children are doing. Meta is trying to help the parents out by adding these protections and making it easier to restrict what their child is able to see and do on Instagram. Making an effort to change and adapt to the changing times, wanting to make their app more accessible and safer for minors.