Plans for Instagram Kids have been put on hold, after unconfirmed reports that initial research had suggested that the popular social media platform was “toxic for teen girls”.
Pratiti Raychoudhury, Vice President, Head of Research at Facebook has denied the allegations in her latest blog. She claims that “more teenage girls who said they struggled with issues such as loneliness, anxiety, sadness and eating issues, also said that Instagram made those difficult timesย betterย rather than worse”
How Instagram currently police their app
Instagram, upon sign up, asks users to confirm they are over the age of 13 years. It is apparent that underage users are entering fake data to sign up to the photo sharing platform. The Instagram Kids adaption could offer those younger users the chance to become involved with image sharing, whilst restricting their content and provider greater security measures for them.
What do the public think about Instagram Kids?
The idea of Instagram Kids has created huge divides on the internet. Many have suggested that Instagram was never meant for children, and that it can be damaging to young people and their mental health. Others wondered how tech giant Facebook were going to police the new children’s platform. On the for argument, it was voiced that the new app is a great idea. This was based on the fact that pre-teens are already on the internet, using false data to sign up to the Instagram platform anyway.
