Talk to me about Instagram

[Rumblingtum]

Our 13 yo has been patient and asks every few months if he can have it. He has no social media except WhatsApp (I check it regularly). I'm not comfortable with what he could share or look at on Insta but I don't use it, so I'm not sure if I'm over-concerned or how to lock it down etc. Your advice would be appreciated
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watching with interest as I got insta to check it out before letting dd on it and got a load of randoms wanting to message me

They can set up the account and set it to private to only people they add can see there posts. You can also have the app on both your phones and have it signed in on both phones at the same time so you can check it regularly until you trust he’s not making bad choices. If you choose to get an account too you can have multiple accounts logged into the same phone and switch between them.

I would say if he’s a sensible lad that Instagram is probably the best social media to start with because it’s so easy for you to have that overview as you can both be logged in. Set up the account to your email address so he can’t go rogue and change the password.

So long as you set the account to private you'll have no trouble with weirdos. You could make a rule with your child that they are not allowed to accept any followers without your review and permission. Also, create your own account and follow your child so you see everything they post and you can check on their account.

Set the account up as private, ditto as mentioned above, you can have it logged into more than one device so you can monitor. Still needs educational input around the dangers - lots of children have it set to private but will accept followers who they don't know.

Thank you. Feel so uncomfortable with this but we've set out rules and we'll see how we go...

It’s a good one to test the waters with. Just ensure anyone he follows are celebrities or people who he has met in real life. Likewise the people he follows should only be people he has met in real life.