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Cyber Expert Reviewer:
Reviewed on Dec 7, 2022
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social media platform for iOS and Android. It is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., and with almost 1.5 billion users, is currently the fourth most popular social media platform in the world, behind Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.
Creators can choose to post either publicly or to their followers only. Content can be edited with filters and uploaded using hashtags and geo tags, enabling others to search and browse profile feeds by location, keywords, or trends. As with most other social media platforms, posts can be liked, commented on, or shared. Â
Before creating an account, users must agree to Instagram’s Terms of use and Privacy Policy. A verified phone number or email address is also required, and they will also be prompted to sync their contacts, although they can opt out of doing so. Users must be 13 years of age (not verified) and they will be asked to provide their birth date in order for the platform to enable a more personalized curation of features and ads. We always recommend that parents ensure their children use their actual age when setting up any social media account.
Instagram is free to download and use. Users can purchase ‘badges’ to show support for creators they follow when the creator is presenting a live session. Badges range in price from USD0.99 to USD4.99. Instagram is also testing paid subscriptions for some creators, currently costing USD4.99 per month.
In addition to in-app purchases, there are a number of other ways for users to spend money on the platform. Instagram is extremely heavy on advertising and marketing, and with influencer numbers on the rise, users are constantly shown products of all kinds, often linking out to other websites and platforms.
Main Feed Traditionally, Instagram’s main feed was reserved for a user’s opted content and sponsored ads; however, it now also includes suggested posts from creators the user doesn’t necessarily follow, potentially increasing scroll and screen time and making it difficult for users to curate their feeds.
Users can customize their feed in a limited way by scrolling to ‘ads’ within settings and toggling topics they aren’t interested in to ‘see less’, which will help to reduce the number of ads and suggested content relating to that subject in their feed. By clicking on ‘following’ in their profile, they can remove all suggested content from their feed; however, this isn’t a sticky setting, so users will need to enable it each time they open Instagram if they wish to use this feature to help curate their feed. Stories Stories is a popular Instagram feature that enables users to post images or videos (that can be viewed by friends and followers) to their profile that disappear after 24 hours. They can post as many Stories as they like, without affecting their main news feed.
Reels Similar to TikTok, Instagram Reels are fun, entertaining 15-second videos that usually focus on viral trends like dances or lip-synching to a particular song for the purpose of getting as many likes as possible. They can be shared with followers or made public and shared with the broader Instagram community within the Explorer section. For creators, Instagram has recently extended the maximum Reels time from 15 seconds to 90 seconds.
Guides The Instagram Guides feature enables creators to pull together a curated feed of content from across the platform and give it their own commentary, similar to a miniature blog. They can help a user’s followers discover their favorite recommendations, tips and other content from Instagram creators, influencers and organizations.
Your activity Within the Your Activity section, Instagram users can get an overview of all their activity on the platform and can also delete past posts and interactions (including those on other user’s accounts) in bulk, instead of having to trawl through individual posts.
Take a Break and Daily Limit settings Instagram has created a feature that enables users to set reminders to take a break from using the app once it has been used for a specified period of time. Similarly, the Daily Limit feature reminds users once they have reached their daily limit within a single day. Both reminders can be set within the ‘Your Activity’ heading. For Australian account owners, the Take a Break feature will also prompt users to move on to a different topic if they have spent too much time looking at the same type of content within the Explore heading.
When setting these features up on your teen’s account, we encourage you to use this as an opportunity to talk about the importance of screen time limits and following your family's tech agreement, as well as discussing alternative non-tech activities for them to do once these limits are reached. For detailed instructions on setting up these features, please see the ‘How To’s’ section below.
Parental controls Instagram has recently launched some parental control features for their account owners in Australia, Japan, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and The Republic of Ireland, with plans for a global roll out by the end of the year. The changes will enable parents to see how long their teen has spent on the platform, and set specific time limits, as well as see who they follow, and who follows them. They will also be notified if their teen reports inappropriate content or another account owner to the platform; however, these parental control features will only be available if both the teen and their parents mutually agree to implement them. Â
Private messaging Instagram enables private messaging (or DM-ing, as it’s popularly called) between two or more people, enabling users to connect with friends as well as strangers on the platform. It is common for teens to chat with those they don’t know in real life (IRL) and for users to receive unsolicited messages from strangers that are explicit in nature. If a user is messaged by someone they don’t follow, it will appear as a request in their inbox, providing an initial barrier to potentially risky content; however, parents should encourage their teens to only interact on the platform with those they know in real life, regardless.
As a safety feature to help prevent adult strangers from attempting unsolicited contact with children on Instagram, adults can only message users who are under 18 years of age if the child follows them on the platform. Although this feature is good in theory, the platform doesn’t verify a user’s age, making the restriction easy to bypass.
Facebook and Instagram are owned by the same parent company, Meta, and parents should be aware that Instagram also enables users to be messaged by and/or message Facebook users (instead of just those on Instagram) even if they aren’t on the platform.
Online bullying Online bullying through messaging and post comments is rife on the platform. Additionally, posts containing nasty polls, burn pages, and embarrassing photos (with encouragement to comment negatively or hurtfully) as well as impersonation or catfishing accounts are also extremely common. Fortunately, Instagram provides the option to block inappropriate comments from appearing in posts, and users can also turn on comment filters in their app privacy settings. The platform has built-in reporting tools, and teens should know how to use these in the event they – or one of their online peers – are ever on the receiving end of online abuse. It is important for teens to remember that any private content can be screenshot and shared.
Excessive screen time Instagram puts users at risk of excessive screen time in a number of ways. Creators can spend hours producing, editing and uploading Insta-worthy content, and engaging with their followers. The partially curated feed also makes it extremely easy for users to keep scrolling from one post to the next without realizing how long they’ve spent on their devices. When watching reels, Instagram has a feature that ‘bumps up’ the next video at the bottom of a user's screen, enabling them to smoothly transition from one to another without shifting away from the screen.
Multiple accounts Instagram users can have multiple accounts and it is common for teens to create one account that their parents know about, and a secret account under a nickname or pseudonym (known as a Finsta – or fake Insta – account) where they post content they want to keep private from their parents. These accounts are generally unfiltered and contain content that may be inappropriate.
Covert commercialism and targeted shopping feature Instagram hosts a large number of commercial posts and adverts that are targeted toward young people. Businesses on Instagram not only recruit paid celebrities to promote their products but often everyday Instagram users too. This can help make the product’s claims or features seem more genuine as the review is provided by a ‘normal’ person, and it is not always obvious they are being paid to promote it.
Instagram has also introduced a targeted shopping feature to the platform. Businesses can add products to their profiles under the shop tab, and items for sale can also be tagged within curated images. When users click on the image to see the item’s price, they are redirected to the store.
Inappropriate content Like most social media platforms, Instagram contains content that may be inappropriate for younger users, including profanity, nudity, sexual references, drug use, references to extreme dieting and the normalization of eating disorders, and violence. There are processes in place for users to report inappropriate content, and Instagram also moderates its content using AI technology. Additionally, during live streams, Instagram creators can now appoint their own human moderators to report comments, turn off comments of specific users or remove users from the stream entirely.
Self-esteem and validation Instagram’s image content often has an expectation of being ‘Insta-worthy’ and many influencer’s use the platform to showcase their seemingly lavish lifestyle, designer wardrobe or perfect body (although this is often not an accurate portrayal of their reality). For some, this can bring about feelings of inadequacy or jealousy and have a negative impact on their self-esteem, but for others it can lead to anorexia, depression or other mental illness with symptoms including frequent self-harm.
The number of likes or followers a creator has is often used to validate a user’s self-worth, and the pressure to maintain their online reputation can lead to anxiety and increased feelings of unhappiness. Parents should encourage their teens to follow authentic creators who post inspiring, positive content. To help bring balance, creators can opt out of viewing the number of likes received. For instructions on how to do this, head to the 'How to's' section below.
Maps and location features Instagram’s map search feature enables users to discover businesses and locations close by, by viewing the in-app map. The map shows local businesses, landmarks, and Stories from other users (with a public profile), who have posted at these locations. Although this may seem like a useful feature, it is important that teens and children have location services turned off and that their profiles are set to private (please see instructions in the 'How to' section below) to avoid the privacy and security risks associated with having their location identified.
Privacy Instagram collects, stores and uses user data and provides this information to third-parties, which may be considered a privacy risk. For full information, please see the developer’s privacy policy.
Since 2020, Instagram has been using pop-ups to proactively ask single-account users to create a second account. Doing so may lead to more time spent on the app and a greater amount of personal information shared, increasing your digital footprint (the information about you that can be found on the Internet as a result of your online activity). The more the platform learns about you, the more it can use what it knows to to curate your feed and send you targeted marketing designed to keep you using the app for longer. The platform can also sell the information it has acquired about you to third parties without your permission. Before creating a second account, you should first consider if there is a real need.
It's common for users on Instagram to post perfect photos of themselves, filters and all. Always remember that what you see on this platform is a version of someone’s 'highlight reel', and not their 'behind the scenes'. Instagram is also filled with influencers who flaunt their seemingly perfect, lavish, effortless lifestyles. This is usually not realistic, and users should not set their life expectations based on what they see on Instagram.
It’s easy to spend hours flicking through Instagram’s endless feed, so it’s a great idea to create a close friends list to help ensure the information that’s most relevant to you comes up at the top of your feed. Please see the ‘How to’ section at the bottom of this app review for detailed instructions on creating a close friends list. Instagram also has two other features that will help you streamline your screen time. ‘Daily Limit’ will remind you to close Instagram once you have reached your limit in a single day, and ‘Take a Break’ will remind you to take a break from using the app once you have used it for a long time without closing it. We’d recommend you go ahead and set these limits for yourself, and let your parents know once you have done this. It’s a great way to show your parents that you are being responsible online and taking your digital wellness seriously.
Sometimes people may make nasty or inappropriate comments on your posts. Under settings, you can scan and filter out offensive comments so they don’t appear on your posts and you can also manually choose any words you would like to be blocked within your post comments. By turning on the ‘Restricted Accounts’ setting, you can protect yourself from unwanted interactions without having to block or unfollow people you know. This setting will not notify the people that you’ve restricted, and other users won’t be able to see the restricted person’s comments on your posts.
Instagram’s ‘Map Search’ feature is very handy for finding out the local information, landmarks and business within a given area. If you use this feature, remember not to tag businesses or locations while you are in the area, as it can reveal your location even if you have a private account. Posting later on when you are in a new location is a much safer alternative.
The supervision feature must be activated by both parties before parents can set a daily limit for their teen’s Instagram account. Once this has been done, parents can follow the instructions below:
Your teen will be notified when you set or change their daily time limit.
The Gold Standard: COPPA [Implemented globally, legally enforced only in the U.S.]
California: CCPA
U.K and Europe: GDPR-K
Australia: Online Safety Act 2021