Social media use is a constant bone of contention in many families. Meta Platforms, the operator of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, is apparently also aware of this. The group wants to introduce the so-called family area on Instagram from the end of June.
Monitor times and contacts
Parts of this new area are the media literacy hub and parental supervision tools. In the hub, Instagram wants to give parents and guardians tips on how to use social media safely. To this end, Meta Platforms worked together with the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young People in the Media.
The tools allow parents to manage the social media consumption of young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Time limits or fixed pause phases can be set here. At the same time, parents can see which accounts their children are following – and which users are following their children’s activities.
A first look at the new functions: Participants have to be invited, parents can of course also manage several children, and Instagram provides information about the use and contacts of the minors in a weekly report
Completely voluntary
Also exciting: Parental control only works if both the child and the adult agree. The use of this function, which is useful in itself, should be a reason for argument in many a family.