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Instagram It's one of the largest and most varied social networks in existence, one where all kinds of people gather. Its content is tremendously varied, and you can find almost anything, so If you are a person who does not understand much about social networksYou may have some doubts if you have seen that your children spend a lot of time looking at the content here.
That's why we have prepared this Parents' Guide to Instagram, so you can understand exactly what this social network is and the type of content it contains. Also, although it doesn't have any parental control system, we'll tell you some things you can do to ensure your son or daughter uses it safely.
The goal of this article is to familiarize you with the social network and its content. Therefore, we'll try not to overwhelm you with a lengthy guide, and while we'll try to make it as comprehensive as possible, we'll keep it concise and explain things simply.
Instagram is a social network based on sharing photos and videosIt began years ago as a photography social network, but over time it has evolved to now also allow you to post videos of various lengths. It also allows you to post temporary photos and videos.
This gives you total flexibility, and opens the door to all kinds of content you can imagine. On the one hand, you have the immediacy of time-based stories, which Since they are erased after 24 hours, they can give a false sense of security., since they are actually stored on Instagram's servers and other people can also take screenshots.
And beyond the immediacy of Stories, you also have the rest of the photos and videos, and the TikTok-style Reels system. Reels are like a kind of Instagram apart from Instagram, designed for sharing more casual videos.
You should also keep in mind that Instagram is one of the largest social networks in the world, with more than 2 billion usersOn the one hand, this means that millions of people have accounts here, including famous people and content creators your kids might like, as well as friends and complete strangers.
Generally, you can find different user profiles on it. You have people who just come to see other people's content and casually upload their own. You also have creators looking to forge a path to becoming influencers, real influencers, and professionals and companies from all kinds of sectors.
One of the reasons you may be reading this article is because there are minors in your home who are accessing Instagram to consume content, and you want to know how vulnerable their security is and everything they might find there. Well, the large number of users who visit and all the tools and content formats available mean you can find everything here to browse for hours.
On the one hand, you have the normal posts, which can be photos or videos. These are the ones posted on each person's wall, and are generally public. In addition, you can also create ephemeral stories that are automatically deleted after 24 hours, although they are not deleted forever but remain hidden from other users.
In addition to this, you also have the Reels format, which is a more casual and discerning format in which you can create content and interact with content created by other peopleThese videos have a different impact than regular posts, and reach a different type of people.
Typically, in regular posts and Stories, your content is viewed primarily by people who follow your account, or those who visit the hashtag or location you attach to the video. Meanwhile, Reel content is often viewed primarily by other people who receive it as a suggestion related to their personal tastes.
Instagram also has an online store service that allow a user to purchase things from a store's profile, all without leaving Instagram itself. In addition to this Links can be added to stories and posts that point to any page outside the social network.
In addition to this, Instagram also has a private messaging system.This means you can exchange private messages with other users of the social network, who will be able to send you a message just by entering your profile.
Translating this into what your children can do, you should know that they'll be able to share photos or anything they have on their phones, and that they'll be able to do so with anyone in general, although there are tools to restrict access to certain people. And also, beyond what they post publicly, they may also be having private conversations with other people.
In these internal chats we mentioned, we have almost the same tools as any other chat app: you can share and receive photos and videos, as well as voice notes. And you can talk to people you're following or with other anonymous random people you've texted or who have contacted you.
According to statistics The two age groups that use Instagram the most are 18 to 24 years old and 25 to 34 years old. The group of underage users who use it is quite small., it doesn't reach 9%, but those minors who enter will find a generally adult audience.
Regarding gender, it's quite evenly distributed, with an estimated 51.61% of users being men, and 48.41% being women. Additionally, you should know that 73% of American teenagers consider Instagram the best way for brands to reach them with information about new products.
Instagram has a series of basic systems and limitations in place to try to make it a little safer for younger users to interact. This system is applied depending on the age that the user indicates he has., so it's important to check that your child has registered at their actual age so the app can apply restrictions if necessary.
As to the restrictions, Adults cannot send private messages to minors under 18 if they do not follow them.And in the case where an adult messages you because the minor is following you, if that adult sends a large number of friend requests or messages to minors under 18, Instagram will alert the recipients within their direct messages and give them the option to end the conversation, or block, report, or restrict the adult on Instagram.
To prevent this from happening and other people from interacting with them, Minors' accounts are private by default, and they won't appear in search results for adults either. This helps prevent predators from targeting young people by name.
Here, you should keep in mind that these private account settings are configured by default. This means that if nothing is done, they remain that way, but the user can go into their privacy settings and change them. Therefore, it's a good idea to review these settings with your child and check them from time to time to make sure nothing has changed.
But these are really the only settings Instagram has specifically for minors, which means that otherwise, minors will be fairly exposed to all the types of content you can find on Instagram. There are no parental controls at the moment., although Instagram is already working on them and they could arrive in the coming months.
Generally, Instagram content is generally appropriate and varied, although all types of users can upload all kinds of content. In this regard, Instagram is generally quite effective in censoring content of a sexual nature or that violates its rules of use.
However, you should know that Instagram is a very important and powerful social network, attracting all sectors. This means that while explicit content is not allowed, you may encounter a certain level of eroticism or violent incitement in some posts.
This moderation is usually done automatically and through algorithms that analyze the photos. But it can also be done there is a reporting system through which users can notify the social network's moderators of possible content that has bypassed these filters.
Here, it would be advisable that Check from time to time the profiles your son or daughter followsTo do this, you simply have to follow them or have them follow each other. You can then visit their profile whenever you want and click on the counter of people they're following or who are following them to see the full list.
As we mentioned, Instagram has a reporting system that allows you to report accounts that aren't behaving appropriately. This notification will be sent to moderators, who will review the account or its content to see if it violates the rules of conduct.
You can report an account, its content, or private messages. that have been sent to you. The content can be a single post or multiple posts. When you do so, you can choose the reason and the rules of conduct you think have been violated.
You can report content for a variety of reasons, including nudity or sexual activity, hate speech or symbols, fraud, violence, or dangerous organizations, the sale of illegal products, or bullying and harassment. After reporting an account you will have the option to block it. so that communication is completely cut off.
Since there is no parental control system yet, the only thing you can do to protect your son or daughter's account as much as possible is talk to them to help them set up their account privacy and educate them about online privacy.
In Xataka Basics we have the guide to improve the Security and privacy on Instagram, and in it we tell you step by step how to improve the privacy of an account. The best thing is that help the minor set up their account in the most private way possible, so you can prevent anyone from leaving comments, or prevent anyone from tagging or mentioning this account.
Unfortunately, there's not much else you can do. You should teach this minor how reporting systems work and how to block or restrict accounts. Restricting an account means blocking it in such a way that the other person can still see its content, even if other people can't see what that person leaves in the comments. This is a less aggressive way to avoid anger. Similarly, you can temporarily limit interactions to avoid moments of harassment.
But the most important thing is teach children the importance of not exposing themselves too much, since once they have published an image on the Internet it doesn't matter if they delete it, there could always be someone else who downloads it and they lose all control over how it is disseminated.
Sometimes, the false sense of security that comes with content like stories that delete after 24 hours can lead to people sharing photos or videos they might later regret, and it's important to keep this in mind every time they post something and be aware of the potential consequences.
In addition to this, Instagram also has other tools that you should use. For your part, in the Privacy options you can filter certain words so that content containing them does not appear. In addition, you can also Enable limitations for accounts that don't follow you back and recent followers, so that they cannot interact with the profile you are setting up, which would be that of your son or daughter.
In addition you can also use sensitive content control so that it shows as little as possible. All of these are Settings you should make from your son or daughter's cell phone, since there are no parental controls that allow you to manage it from yours. However, these are useful things to review before letting them freely browse the social network, especially if they are minors.
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