Cyberspace could be quite a scary place if you wander off into its uncharted territories. Even globally famous social media apps could prove to be not safe for work for both children and adults as millions of videos flood their servers. To keep your child safe on Instagram one must be vigilant. Due to the massive volume of data that floods these servers every minute, little can be done to monitor these data with enough care and attention as everything is outsourced to AI systems, with monitoring such data being literally impossible for human employees alone.
While most adults are able to protect themselves from NSFW content on the internet, there is a high risk of children being exposed to such content without their parents’ knowledge. These posts could have significant and horrible effects on children as they could turn their lives upside down in a matter of seconds. That is why parents need to be wary of letting their children go off into the wilderness that is the internet without proper safeguarding and effective filters to help keep such content away from their children at all costs.
But how can we make sure that kids do not get their hands on such content? How can you keep your child safe on Instagram? There are several ways of limiting your child’s access to Instagram and the internet in general. So without further ado, here is how you can provide a safe space for your child on Meta’s global social media app Instagram.
Create A Proper Account
The first step you as a parent can take to make sure about your child’s safety online and to specifically keep your child safe on Instagram is to only sign up your child for apps whose age limits match the age of your child. Instagram is currently suitable for ages above 13 years old. Signing up for a profile with the right age will enable Instagram to choose the right content to provide on your child’s feed while significantly reducing the chances of showing NSFW posts.
After creating an account on Instagram for your child, you need to make sure that the account is set to private mode, which will disable all incoming direct messages from those who do not follow your child’s account. If you do not enter your child’s correct age while creating an account, you will need to tweak the settings a bit more than is necessary in order to disable such messages.
Hiding Comments
What better way to keep your child safe on Instagram than filtering what people can comment on their posts? The world is a scary place, and there are those who might want to get close to minors by creating fake accounts and posing as minors themselves. Now such a statement might make you want to take away your child’s phone right away and even dump your own phone into the garbage disposal simply because of how scary it is.
But do not get cold feet from introducing your child to the cyber social space as whether you like it or not, they will find a way to access the vast sea of information that is served to them on a silver platter thanks to high-speed internet connection and all the new smartphones out there. So instead of taking away their phone, you can simply filter their comments as Instagram allows you to enable certain settings so that it would automatically filter out comments that contain common offensive words, phrases, or even emojis. Even though this setting is already on default, you can still turn it off or on by tapping on “Hidden Words” in “Settings.”
Dig Deeper
Have you already tried turning off the comments or filtering them out and setting up a proper account for your child? Do you want to know about what more you can do to help keep your child safe on Instagram? Then we suggest you read about all the ways you can filter out a safe space for your child in the special article about the Instagram age limit. Learning more about how online apps work in general and how you can monitor your child’s activity on social media apps will certainly ease your concerns over what your child can access and what they are denied access to.
Have the Talk
As parents, you certainly remember the awkward times back in the day when parents tried to teach their children about everything a grown-up needed to know. We have all heard about the much-dreaded “Talk,” and it is present in many movies. While “The Talk” used to be much simpler back in our day, it needs to be more profound and detailed nowadays while also covering a whole lot more than it used to.
Talking about social media, its benefits, and its dangers with your child can certainly help them understand which direction to take when facing dangerous content online. Giving your child the responsibility of protecting themselves against harmful content can play a significant role in both giving you the much-needed ease of mind while also helping you monitor your child more efficiently. It is of utmost importance to keep your child safe on Instagram with any measures possible.
Conclusion
Social media apps are gaining much more control in our lives thanks to the introduction of fast smartphones and the global high-speed internet that connects us all to each other. That is why parents need to be cautious about what their children can access online and whom they can talk to using such apps. With that in mind, you can follow the steps provided above to make sure that your child is safe while surfing the web or using Instagram.
While steps such as creating a proper profile and filtering out the comments can be effective ways of making Instagram kid-friendly, the best way to create a safe environment is to talk to your child about the dangers looming in cyberspace as it helps your child take responsibility for themselves without having to rely on you for protection. So go on and have the modern version of “The Talk” with your child before it is too late.
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