How do your teens use Instagram? Share with us for the chance to win a £300 voucher!

[EmmaMumsnet]

Instagram is now a huge part of our culture and is a staple for many teens (and adults alike!) whether they use it to share moments with their friends, run an account for your family pet, or simply to browse memes. We would like to find out how your teens use Instagram and what accounts you’d recommend for teenagers to follow?

Do your teenagers follow foodie, beauty, or music accounts for inspiration? Are they creative and use Instagram to share their own art or photography? Perhaps they are keen activists and use the platform to spread awareness and gain support for good causes?

Instagram have also pulled together this handy guide which explains all about the safety features you and your teens can use to make sure they are getting the best experience on Instagram.

Everyone who posts below will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

My niece and her friends use it and it seems mainly for chatting and showing off about what they got for Christmas. I am so glad it didn't exist when I was a child because I came from a poor family but I was grateful for what I got. The first thing my niece did on Christmas Day was take photos of the gifts she received and put them on Insta. Her mum and dad are well off but I'm aware that not everybody is so lucky and seeing what privileged kids have got on social media must be hard to take for the ones that aren't so lucky.

They don't use it.

My teenage daughter uses instagram to keep in touch with her friends.
After the price went up again on our phone contract we cancelled it, giving her a months notice to sort herself a new phone contract or payg sim. Obviously a month was not enough notice and she is still without a phone so uses instagram to keep in touch.

to chat to friends and post images of food mainly!

I'm lucky my daughter doesn't us instagram. She does have Facebook but I'm her friend so I can see what she is posting. She said instagram is fake and her group of friends don't use it. I'm sure she will one day though.

Two of my three are on instagram but neither use it much. DS2 uses it to message his friends but only occasionally. DD posts photos mainly. DS1 probably doesn't know what it is!! I use it far more than they do.

I am open with my children, nieces and nephews too
I talk about anything and everything so I hope If any problemd arise they feel that they could open up and tal to me

My 13 year old DSD uses Instagram to post up fashion pics and makeup, but mostly shoes. How many pairs of shoes does one girl need? I think she has more now than I've owned in my entire life! She also has a separate account for the dog.

My teenage son uses it to post creative pics ... my teenage daughter also does this but follows accounts that interest her for inspiration on her interests ... fashion, make up, arts etc

I struggle with getting to grips with IG, my teenager mainly follows fashion bloggers and friends , she does have it set to private so only those she follows can see her content and she is quite selective..

My sons don't like using instagram, they see it as shallow and all about photoshopped selfies. (I don't use it so can't comment) however they do really like snapchat.

My 13yo ds has Instagram but very rarely posts anything - he mostly uses it for private messaging and group chats, and endless scrolling through his feed looking at memes and trainers.

My children don't use Instagram

Just like to use it for chatting to friends a sharing pics x

Dd seems to post mostly food and makeup photos. She follows a number of seemingly wealthy, wide travelling females with very glamorous lives.

Our son doesn't use social media, no Instagram, no Facebook and no Twitter although him and his friends use other online methods to keep in touch and chat.

My girls use it daily - My eldest is 18, she uses it to post pictures of anything and everything! She loves photography so will snap the sunlight in the trees or the raindrops on a car window. My other daughter is 15 and posts memes and daily quotes. She's not one for taking selfies, so I barely see a picture of her on there. I follow both their accounts and they both are mature enough to realise the danger on the internet so know what not to post.

However, I've noticed more and more that Instagram is having more and more posts of "perfect lives" which, in reality, is probably a lie. Social media in general is becoming harsh on teens, thinking they need to be like everyone else. I've heard about it so many times with my friends and their kids - it's messing with their mental health :(

My teenage daughter and her friends have accounts. My daughter doesn't post much on it and I told her that it must be private or I won't allow it. I think she uses it more to look at beauty stuff as her and her friends' social media platform of choice seems to be Snapchat

My teenage daughters use it to share selfies with friends. My 19 year old has used it to raise awareness of mental health issue and through this was contacted by a girl needing help. She gave her a number to call and later found out the girl had sought help. My daughter says that being able to help like that was one of the best feelings she's ever had.

My son doesnt use it but my daughter does, she posts pics of her travels and outfits.

My son follows friends who post anything from holiday snaps and party photos to pics and videos they've found online. He also follows 'hype beasts' - don't ask! Also football, rugby, NFL pages etc, plus loads of trainer pages. He also uses Instagram to find out the latest 'drop' dates and, for example, raffles for new Adidas trainers.
My teenage daughter on the other hand has no interest in social media, messaging etc.

My niece is 13 and she has two accounts - one she posts selfies....this one is a private account.....nine times out of ten she deletes the pictures on there after a few days. Her other one is for her make up. She is really into trying different brands and doing all sorts of make up so she posts her pictures there. My sister (her mum) and I always keep an eye on both accounts.

My teen uses Instagram mainly for messaging friends. She only has about 4 pictures up of herself and doesn't seem to post much. She follows fashion and music and I am only allowed to like (not comment)!! I put a photo of her on mine the other day and it miraculously disappeared (she reported me for copyright)!! Too cool for school these teens!!

To see what other people are up to, they often tell me what my sister is doing, she uses it more than they do and is definitely past teenage years.

I regularly supervise any social media use and we have agreed a password for each social media account so I can access these whenever I choose; I've explained to them that this isn't me invading their privacy but merely to ensure their safety.

I do spot checks now and then and luckily I've not found anything untoward but if I did I would definitely address this with them.