Parental Discretion (Still) Advised

There was no scrolling Instagram for hours, comparing myself to idealized realities, or being bombarded with cleverly disguised ads.

My “feed” was a chatroom. And when I logged out and got up from the computer, it stayed behind.

Today, social media is with us everywhere we go and the effects of spending a few hours scrolling are far greater than the remorse for not being invited to a private chat with “GreenEyedCutie.”

Enter Instagram’s Teen Accounts.

Instagram says the goal of teen accounts is to create a safer, more controlled environment for young users while giving parents some peace of mind.

The key features include automatically private accounts, restricted messaging, limited sensitive content, and tools to manage screen time. For users under 16, a parent is the only one who can loosen those protections.

Instagram says this is a proactive move to address parents' concerns. But, it's also a clear attempt to divert potential regulation and criticism. By including safety features and parental controls, Instagram hopes to strike a balance between allowing teens to explore their interests online and protecting them from the platform's less savory aspects.

It could also be seen as an admission that maybe, just maybe, unrestricted social media isn't the best thing for developing minds.

Howdy Do Fellow Kids

While Instagram's new safety measures are a step in the right direction, the platform still feels like a cooler, shinier, and suspiciously well-lit version of reality.

Our deep dive into Teen Instagram revealed a landscape where:

1. Comments still get thirsty and aggressive in a hurry
2. Risque content and adult-themed memes still appear regularly
3. Initial account follow suggestions don’t skew particularly “teen”

Buckle up as we take you on a journey into the heart of Teen Instagram.

Spoiler alert: Don't fire the babysitter just yet.

Because I Said So!

So parental supervision, while a worthwhile additional layer of security, has an interesting hurdle: you and your teen both have to agree to said supervision. And either party can turn it off at-will.

This reliance on teen and parent harmony is a weird choice. I know a few teenagers. Their least favorite thing to do is whatever their parents suggest. This seems like a good way to create more strife in a parent’s life rather than help them protect their kids.

But still, I persist.

Who Done It?

The first step in our IGvestigation was to create our own teen account. We needed to see for ourselves how these new tools would take effect.

First, we wanted to see if there were any new elements in place to help verify age, or if we could just sneak our way through it.

Note: I'll be speaking as myself as a teen, going through the sign-up process.

“Ok, so, like, I just signed up for an IG account with my personal email (mom and dad don’t know, shh) and when it asked my age, I said I was 18, even though I’m play-acting 16. That’s it. I wish the guy at the convenience store on the corner was this easy to lie to.”

— @TheMCIGKid — Me

Well, that was a bust. (It’s me again.)

Instagram says they’re rolling out measures to spot fake birthdays, but for the moment, this was bested by a little white lie. This isn't just our experience. A 2021 Ofcom study found that 42% of UK children aged 5-15 have a social media profile, despite most platforms' minimum age being 13.

Instagram's goal of keeping kids away from the adult’s table fell a little short. Our lives slipped through easier than a teen sneaking out on prom night. Major fail.

What Do You Recommend?

I wanted no kids. The wife wanted two. So we compromised and had two.

Meet @TheMCIGKid2. Identical in every way to @TheMCIGKid, but not a filthy little liar.

“I told the IG sign-up thingy I was only 16 and it immediately started recommending athletes and musicians. Which was cool, I guess. I mean, I like Marvel movies and my dad listens to Snoop Dogg (I do)... Madison Beer, The Weekend, DripKing, and Mr. Beast (oof). All followed.”

Out of the gate, these follow suggestions all seem to be within the realm of “OK” for a teenager in 2024 with the exception of Mr. Beast, who recently came under fire for allegations of sexual predation on minors by people within his organization.

Woof.

Why are initial recommendations a hot topic? A 2023 Center for Countering Digital Hate study found that new teen accounts on TikTok were served harmful content about eating disorders and self-harm within 30 minutes of signing up.

It was pretty surprising not to see any of the top teen influencers anywhere in the suggestions, though. And the content skewed decidedly toward more manicured and “posed” type imagery.

This is purely algorithmic, and mostly PG-13, though…

But what happens when fake me, an inquisitive little bird, decides to explore away from the nest?

Let’s Explore

Now that we’ve added a few accounts through the search bar, we rolled the dice and hit the explore button. Scrolling through here, a few things stood out:

There was some content — risque memes, guerilla marketing, and the baby oil stuff — that I wish would have been filtered out for a 16-year-old’s account. But I didn’t feel bludgeoned by ad content or anything that made me feel self-conscious. That isn’t to say, however, that the influencers who make teens feel that way weren’t a click away. After I followed one beauty influencer, several more were fed to me within mere minutes.

There’s one lane left before we burp this cyber-baby and put it to bed: Reels!

Keeping it Reel

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I, too, was trying to master the moonwalk as a teen. The tutorial in this first reel could have saved me a lot of embarrassment at my junior prom.

It’s bad enough kids are dumping their (or their parents) savings into loot boxes in video games as a form of gambling. If they want to make a buck, let them get a job sacking groceries like the rest of us.

And then, like a blast from the past, tobacco snuck in. It was just a blip at the end of a reel — a passing of snuff packs — but we all know how inquisitive teen brains are. They’re gonna want to know what the heck that was. And, of course, then they’ll want to try it.

Didn't we learn anything from Joe Camel?

The presence of these ads in a teen's feed is more than a faux pas — it's a health hazard. Studies have shown that exposure to tobacco advertising increases the likelihood of teen smoking.

The occasional middle finger or risqué meme might seem harmless, but it's all part of a larger picture. This mishmash of content creates an environment where the boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate, real and fake, safe and risky are blurred.

For a developing mind trying to navigate the already tumultuous waters of adolescence, this lack of clear delineation could lead to confusion about social norms and acceptable behavior.

Reels still let a lot of unsavory (for teens) content through, and the implications go beyond just a few eyebrow-raising moments. It's about the cumulative effect of this unfiltered algorithmic diet on teen development, decision-making, and worldview.

This Doesn’t Ad Up

Thanks to some swanky "cool" marketing (Looking at you, again, Joe Camel), in 1995 a whopping 33% of teens were smokers. Then along came the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 that brought the hammer down on tobacco ads targeting the youths.

It worked. By 2001 the percentage of teen smokers fell 8%. And in 2022, youth smoking rates hit a historic low of 2.1%.

Put that in your vape and… uh… vape it.

If this is the type of action Instagram is looking to curb, there's some serious fine-tuning to do. Our deep dive into Teen Instagram revealed a landscape that's about as clear as mud on a rainy day.

Paid content was aggressive and tough to spot. I've worked in advertising and marketing for a decade, and I even had trouble picking out what was an ad. How could a 16-year-old be expected to keep an eye out for it?

This is as confusing as it is widespread. A 2020 study by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority found that only 35% of Instagram users could consistently identify sponsored posts.

If a well-seasoned pro is struggling, imagine how confusing this is for a 14-year-old scrolling through their feed.

And ambiguity isn’t always harmless. When teens can't distinguish between organic content and advertisements, it blurs the lines between reality and marketing. That perfectly curated lifestyle? It might be a carefully constructed ad campaign. That must-have product all the cool kids are using? It could be a stealth marketing ploy.

AI-generated content was as rampant as the ambiguous unmarked ads, adding another layer of smoke and mirrors. While this wizardry might not steer a teenager directly to a life of crime, it does raise questions about authenticity and trust in the space.

Ethically, if advertisers can still hide behind unmarked content, their ads can seep through the filters like water through a sieve.

As for the AI element, it just adds a layer of trust-suck (yes, that's a real marketing term) to the platform. In a world where deep fakes and AI-generated content are becoming increasingly sophisticated, teaching teens to navigate this is more crucial than ever.

The bottom line? Instagram's ad situation for teens is like a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as one issue is addressed, another resurfaces. While the platform has made strides in some areas of teen safety, the advertising realm remains a wild west that needs some serious sheriff-ing.

BREAKING NEWS!

I got two new followers in the three hours since creating my teen account! I have not interacted with any posts. This was not intentional. My mini me is just that charismatic?

Also, not optimal as they’re both obviously bots or alts. (Don’t. Like. That.)

Reality Check: The TL;DR Version

After our deep dive, here's the quick and dirty on Instagram's Teen Account features:

1. Age Verification: As effective as a screen door on a submarine.
2. Content Filtering: Aiming for PG-13, landing somewhere in soft-R-rated territory.
3. Screen Time Management: Present, but rarely used. (Only 22% of teens bother.)‍
4. Private Accounts: Mostly secure, but suspicious followers still slip through.

The Final Scroll

Social media’s potential long-term impacts on teen mental health and development are too significant to ignore. We're talking about a generation growing up in a world where reality and fantasy are increasingly blurred, where self-worth is measured in likes.

So, are these changes sufficient? In the immortal words of Magic 8-Ball: "Outlook not so good."

Here's what we need to see:

For Instagram: Stricter age verification, more consistent content filtering, clearer ad labeling, and built-in literacy lessons.

For parents and educators: Open conversations about social media use, teaching critical thinking skills, and leading by example in healthy habits.

For policymakers: Updated regulations, mandated transparency from social media companies, and increased funding for research into the long-term effects of social media on teens.