With over 600 million users active and more than forty billion photos shared, Instagram is more than just an app on your smartphone. Instagram is social media’s current queen bee. Therefore, it’s not accurate to define Instagram as only relevant to society, and it is more appropriate to claim that it’s become an integral part of daily life for many people.
Even though it was created in 2010 for teenagers, Instagram has become a means of affirmation and validation. Instagram represents identities, and for teens, Instagram is mandatory. So, while there are millions of teenagers hooked on social media platforms, it’s mandatory to talk about its influence.
How Instagram Models Influence Kids?
Research held in 2020 stated that around 32% of teenage females feel bad about their bodies, and Instagram models made the feeling worse. According to this study, it was also revealed that among teenagers who expressed suicidal thoughts, 14% of British and 7% of American users attributed their feelings to Instagram.
Researchers found that women’s self-image was negatively affected by comparisons between themselves and the images they saw on the platform. According to research, Instagram can be responsible for problems with body image and depression since humans are innately inclined to need to compare themselves to other people.
Increased Eating Disorders Among Kids:
Multiple studies have shown that social media usage is linked to a higher risk of developing eating disorders. Many studies have been done regarding body images and eating disorders related to social media like Instagram.
The internet’s use focuses on appearance which is linked to a higher body image and food concerns. The development of the individual may make them more vulnerable to the effects of these media. Kids follow “Fit Models” on Instagram and go crazy and start calculating calories to reach their appearance level. But it backfires on their health.
Risks of Lower Self-esteem and Depression:
Social media has the most impact on kids’ mental health because they face harassment, hate, and body shaming on Instagram. The risk of these disorders increases because of the content that IG models post daily. Such as the perfect body image, family status, and brands that these models wear make children anxious.
That’s because they don’t own any of the stuff, and trying hard to meet their level makes them depressed. A person’s confidence increases with positive content, but unfortunately, it’s not available on social media. There is a lot of content available on Instagram that can trigger people with certain mental disorders. And avoiding this sort of content is impossible for kids.
Increased Desire for Plastic Surgery:
The fake and perfect face of Instagram models isn’t a reality, but kids are unaware of it. They think that’s what a person should look like to get friends or follow on this platform. That results in an increased desire to get plastic surgery among teenage girls or even older women.
Happiness Depends on “Likes”:
The study was directed a brain fMRI on adolescents to determine the brain activity associated with Instagram likes. fMRI is an imaging technique that allows for the identification of fluctuations in blood flow that occur in different areas of the brain and indicate the area in which brain activity occurs.
The subjects showed higher brain activity when presented with photos that had more likes. If their pictures received likes, their brain’s reward center was activated. It’s a very high risk for kids as they base their lives on it and end up with depression.
Drive for Slimness Increased by IG Models:
Social media experts have said that viewing posts with a focus on appearance (models and fitness bloggers) led to an increase in the desire to be thin. However, the other posts didn’t result in the same effects. That’s because the focus is on defaming other body types and encouraging people to follow their lifestyle even when it’s unhealthy.
How to Restrict Instagram Usage of Kids?
Before we describe how to restrict Instagram usage through parental control on your child’s account, it is important to know a few key aspects of this platform. In the main, Instagram is known for trolling on the internet and cyberbullying.
Many kids use the platform to post their photos or videos as well as stories there. Numerous online trolls insult children by making abusive and rude remarks under their videos and photos. Many parents think they are secure on Instagram since they don’t encounter any threats from the internet using the app.
But they’re wrong!
Instagram is often used by people who are not good and might post offensive material on their accounts. In addition, there are pornographic posts on Instagram and, as a result, Instagram is not accessible to youngsters under 13 years old.
While all users need to supply their birth date, children can get easily over this obstacle. The content shared by other users on Instagram can be offensive as well as violent or even denuded. To ensure your child’s safety online, you should install an Instagram tracker app to monitor Instagram conversations such as TheWiSpy to track their activities using the social media app.
Let’s now look at how you can set up with the help of spyware apps for Android 2022. Below, we’ve provided the steps to help you create parental controls on Instagram.
Step 1: The first step to making parental controls available for your kid’s Instagram account is setting the account to private. You can use monitoring apps to do that remotely. It is also important to ensure that geotagging is removed from your account. This will stop your child not sharing information about their locations via their account.
Step 2: It is possible that you don’t wish certain followers to stalk your kid’s Instagram profile. The best part is that you can remove all followers you do not wish to have stalked your child’s Instagram videos or photos by going to their page on their profiles. Then, use the Instagram tracker to block their accounts remotely.
Step 3: There isn’t any doubt in the fact that a kind comment can certainly brighten the day of your child. But, a negative comment could ruin their day. You can remove all negative comments your child makes on their Instagram posts by accessing the account setting.
Step 4: If you have a child following a famous IG model or an influencer who has posted only inappropriate or offensive material via their Instagram account, you can disable them from your account. If you remove them from your account, you will not view any posts they post shortly.
Step 5: In the Stories section, an option allows your followers to send you a direct message in answer to a story. The setting is public by default, but you can change it to private so that the direct messages sent by your child will be less susceptible to negative comments.
Step 6: Instagram offers users the option of blocking or reporting a person when they’re uninformed. You can use the Instagram spy app to block or report such accounts without touching the phone.
Conclusion:
The downsides of Instagram are causing problems for today’s young generation. Parents are worried that kids are building false narratives of life by following IG models on Instagram. But don’t worry; you can control what’s happening in your teen’s Instagram feed by installing spyware apps for Android 2021. You can monitor Instagram messages through these apps and ensure they’re safe on this platform.
I am also using these apps to monitoring kids social activities.