Instagram is one of the leading social media apps. Moreover, it has become the most sought-after app for kids and teenagers to share pictures and socialize online. In simpler words, if you notice your child clicking pictures or taking a selfie, there are chances that it will be uploaded on their Instagram handle. This same part is not the most significant concern because almost every kid does it.
Even adults use Instagram for personal and as well as business purposes. It is one of the best mediums to promote a business online and increase its customer base. Similarly, it is also why you should keep a watch on the Instagram activities of your children. So, here is a parental control guide for Instagram, starting with the features you must notice of the app.
Parental Control Guide for Instagram
Notable Features of Instagram
Before you begin, it will be best to become familiar with some of the most crucial Instagram features.
Direct
It is the way of communication on the app. These are direct messages that a user can send to others irrespective of whether a user follows the other account or not.
Disappearing messages
If you are familiar with Snapchat and how people text and send images on Snapchat, this is quite similar. Users can send disappearing messages in the form of photos to one another. The receiver can only see the message once or twice if a replay is available.
Stories on Instagram
Even this feature is similar to Snapchat. These are short 15 second videos wherein you can post many things. You can view these stories from the top of your Instagram feed. It also lets you upload texts, videos, quotes, and even go live on Instagram with it.
Instagram Reels
Instagram reels are in great demand and the best trend these days. We can upload short and entertaining videos on Tik Tok, and we can do the same thing using Instagram reels.
Instagram TV
It has all videos longer than a minute on the platform. It is the platform for posting and viewing videos that are longer than a minute. Many people have used Instagram TV and Instagram Reels to their benefit and became famous.
How to keep a watch on the activities of your children on Instagram?
Now that we are familiar with some of Instagram's top features, here is how you can anonymously keep track of your children's activities on Instagram.
Create an account on the platform and follow your children
It is the simplest thing you can do on Instagram to keep track of their activities. If you can join Instagram yourself and follow your children, you will easily view what they are uploading. If they are not comfortable with you following them, you can create a dummy account, although we do not recommend it.
Follow the friends of your children.
To watch more closely, you should follow the friends of your kids. Sometimes, even if you follow your child, they might hide from you. They can do it by hiding their posts and stories from you. It is an option that everyone has on Instagram. You can hide stories and posts from selective people. This is why you should follow their friends so even if your kids are hiding from you, you can still get insight from their friends.
Try to get hold of the account credentials of your children.
As a parent, it is crucial, and it will be useful if you have their account details. Many of you might think that this is simpler than doing all the work by creating a new account, logging in, and following your friends. It is more straightforward, but it is also inconvenient because you will have to be switching accounts now and then. Moreover, if your kids know that you have their account, they will become very cautious and might go on to create a new account and keep it a secret from you.
Do surprise routine checks.
As a parent, you must check your child's phone and social media to track their online activities. You should sit with them and go through the things in front of them, leading to a confrontation if you find something they shouldn't do. However, it is crucial not to let them know that you will be going through their social media.
Because if they don't want you to know something and they know that a phone check is coming up, the chances are that they will be deleting and hiding things from you. Thus, it will be best if you surprise them with phone checks. These things might bring up discomfort between the parent and the child, but you must openly discuss things with them and educate them about them. Even if it brings discomfort for a while, it is for their betterment.
Use Parental Control Software
It is the final and most effective step for keeping track of your children's Instagram activities. You can use parental control software to keep you anonymous and provide you with the thorough details of each and everything that they do on the Internet. One such tool is Avosmart.
You can install it on the child's phone and your phone to keep getting reports of their activities. For apps like Instagram, you can block them and even set a time limit on them so that they do not spend much time on them.