Théo Grévin, edited by Ugo Pascolo 10:37 a.m., September 20, 2024
The middle school students interviewed by Europe 1 are not at all frightened by the implementation of “Teenage Accounts” on Instagram. They do not really feel concerned by their restrictive measures, which they consider to be derisory. A feeling that is also shared by the parents.
Stéphanie is 14 but on Instagram, she looks 21. So when she learned that the social network was going to set up “Teenage Accounts” with restrictions for 13-17 year olds, it didn’t bother her. “I don’t really care because I lied a bit about my age,” she says with a mischievous smile on Europe 1. A very common practice among middle school students when they sign up for Instagram. As a result, she will not be affected by the restrictive measures that Meta wants to put in place with this type of account.
“My account is already private”
And even if these teens were caught in the net, it wouldn’t change much according to them. They even point out derisory measures, particularly regarding the default private account feature for under-16s, which prevents their posts from being visible to the world. “My account is already private,” says a middle school student. “I don’t post my face, I just make stories. I don’t want everyone on social media to see what’s happening on my account.”
Measures that are therefore struggling to convince the main stakeholders, but also their parents. “I think it’s impossible to go back,” says Laurence, a mother and after-school activity leader. “They use them [les réseaux sociaux, ndlr] compulsively, we opened all the floodgates and now we realize the problems that exist.”
For this mother, as for the majority of parents interviewed, only a much stricter control of the age of users would be the solution. A measure that is unthinkable according to Instagram, for reasons of confidentiality.
