5 recommendations so that your children do not take risks on Instagram – Estación Pacífico

On the occasion of Safe Internet Day, the Network for Children’s Rights in Mexico (Redim), together with Tejiendo Redes Infancia en América Latina y el Caribe and Instagram, published a guide for parents focused on knowing the app and encourage safe use.

This guide explains step by step how to make use of all the functions that Instagram has so that its users can navigate safely and avoid situations of identity theft or harassment, as well as how to report people who use offensive language or who perform activities not allowed.

Here are five of the main recommendations presented in the aforementioned guide:

1. Use a private account

The recommendation for minors who make use of Instagram is to have private accounts, with which they have the possibility of approving the people who can follow them, as well as eliminating a follower at any time.

“If your child’s account is public, anyone can see the content posted on Stories, Feed or Live, and follow it without approval. If you already have a public account, you can switch to a private one at any time, ”the publication noted.

Added to this is the possibility of putting an additional filter on the stories that are uploaded and that they are available only to those people they choose as “best friends”, in addition to controlling who can receive direct messages.

“Understanding that they have control over who sees and interacts with the things they post online will allow them to be themselves on Instagram, while remaining safe online,” the organizations said.

2. Manage content

Other points that can be managed by Instagram users, and that it is recommended to teach minors, is related to comments, since what is sought is that this social network is a safe space to share what they like and avoid offensive messages.

That is why it has been possible to make adjustments to the comments, from who can comment on the publications to filter the comments to avoid offenses or those with whom they try to intimidate or harass.

“Your child can also create her own list of words or emojis that she does not want to appear in the comments section when she publishes them,” they explained.

Likewise, it is possible to generate a filter to define who can leave comments in the posts or outright prevent comments, in addition to defining who can tag users in stories or other posts.

3. Set Instagram usage time

Instagram account, within your app, with an activity board in which the time of use is recorded, which is recommended to do so that minors have a defined schedule in front of the screen. With this, you can set a reminder when the defined time limit has expired.

Redim recommended talking to your children about how they feel about using the app to see how much they get out of it.

To avoid continuous use of the app, it was also recommended to silence notifications during certain periods of the day and the “You are up to date” function is enabled to announce when all the updates from your friends and communities have been seen.

4. Manage security

Redim recommended that minors be taught to take care of themselves and take care of their safety on the internet and on social networks. For this reason, the guide established the mechanisms that exist to take care of your account and your data.

Given this, they indicated that there is two-step authentication for the login, as well as the details of the emails they send to prevent someone else from trying to impersonate the company to steal their identity and data.

5. Accompany them in the discovery of technology

Redim also published in the guide a series of recommendations to teach your children to start their digital life and be an intelligent user from before having contact with technological devices.

“Remind them that at this stage it is very important that they accept as friends only those people they know in real life, whether they are friends or family, in their social networks. Guide them on security measures and how to report a problem. Give them the confidence so that in the event of an uncomfortable situation they can share it with you ”, recommended the organization.