Instagram for Kids: Facebook Up to Explore Options for Kids Under 13
Yes, the news is true. Facebook is looking forward to creating an Instagram for kids under 13. The largest social media network shared that it is exploring every possibility to build an enhanced and safe version of the photo and video sharing app for children.
What does Instagram Say?
It has been shared that Instagram for kids can be similar to the 2017 launch of the Facebook Messenger Kids version. It is a well-known version of a popular app for children between the ages 6 and 12 years. However, this app had a design flaw where they could chat with unapproved adults.
A spokesperson of Facebook shared an Instagram for kids is currently in its early development stages. He also added: “Increasingly kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends. Right now, there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products – as we did with Messenger Kids – that are suitable for kids, managed by parents.
We’re exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more.”
The current policy of Instagram does not allow kids younger than 13 years to use the said platform. The platform already touts more than 1 billion users around the world. The news about Facebook planning to build a kids version of Instagram came to a couple of days after when the giant announced that privacy settings and safety tools of Instagram are about to be updated for users from 13 years to 17 years of age.
Look for New Features
The new features include an updated parents’ guide, restricting the adults from contacting the teens through direct messages, particularly if kids aren’t following them.
The chief parenting officer (Titaania Jordan) at Bark, which is an Atlanta-based watchdog group, believes that it is not in the best interest of both the kids and Facebook. He shared about a case conducted by the Bark last year that “more than 2 billion messages across text, email, YouTube, and more than 30 apps and social media platforms (including Facebook and Instagram) found that 45.5% of preteens and 66.3% of teens engaged in conversations about depression”. He further said that data is similar when kids discussed suicide and self-harm.
Moreover, he shared that data showed higher trends towards sexual content. Additionally, up to 87.9% of the teens and 70% of the preteens were observed to see sexual content and nudity. He shared: “None of this data points out that kids need to be on social media more, or an earlier age, adding more screen time or social media time to their plates is not necessarily the best plan of action.”
Back in 2019, Facebook was in hot waters for its Messenger Kids app via two top-rated US lawmakers after the company admitted about the flaw in the app. It allowed the children to bypass the restriction to had chats with the adults. The platform admitted that the error affected the chats, and was not only detected but resolved too.