How Instagram Changed the Habits of Parents?

According to various social media surveys, the parenting habits are changing globally due to Instagram. People, who were born after 1980, are using tech-savvy methods while bringing up their children. 83% of the parents around the globe describe their family as loving ones and 77% among them are happy with a combination of stress as well.

What Parents Should Know About Instagram?

Parents must know the operations of Instagram properly before using it. It is nothing but an application which helps in editing and sharing pictures with just a click of a button. The shared photos become public by default and the followers of the users can easily see them. Though it sounds quite innocent, children may have several threats from these activities. As Instagram requires a username, many young children are using their real names for opening an account. As a part of the sign up process, users can also provide their phone numbers in their public profile. This can make matters worse as the main threat here is ‘public’.

You must be updated with the news of various cyber crimes, which are gradually increasing throughout the world. Many teen and ‘tween’ photos are attracting lewd comments throughout the Instagram network. If you are posting some beach vacation photos of your daughter innocently on Instagram, you are actually leaving some messages for the pervert users of the social media channels. You can get followers on Instagram, but you must be aware of their identities. As pornography among minors is illegal, you must take extra caution before posting pictures of your child or letting them, post pictures of themselves or others on Instagram, even something that seems perfectly innocent could be easily misconstrued.

As soon as you register an Instagram account it is set to ‘public’ by default. This means that any Instagram users can observe your shared pictures and can browse your profile. this could lead to your or your children getting unsolicited and undesirable attention. There is an easy option, like on Facebook, where you can make your account private. In this private account, other Instagram users will at first send a friend request and if you accept the request, then and only then can they connect with you. It’s highly recommended that any users especially minors set their accounts to private.

Instagram Privacy

Irrespective of the age, the security of your child must be the prime concern. Here are some areas where you must provide extra caution:

• Image Sharing: If your child possesses an Instagram account, you must be responsible enough to discuss the restrictions and limits with them. You can frequently check their photo stream to ensure that they are not receiving or posting inappropriate pictures. While opening an account, you must make sure that your password is secured. Try not to use common passwords like city names, birthdays or common words. For increasing the security, you can use different symbols and numbers including uppercase and lower case letters.
• Picture sharing: These activities should be set to ‘Private’ which can prevent anyone from viewing your profile. In the settings section, you must turn on the ‘Photo Privacy’ so that you can see the labels that ‘Photos are Private’. When you are selecting a picture for the profile of your child, make sure that you mutually agree with the same. You can avoid using real photos of your child and can use anything from his or her interests instead.
• Photo Map: The photo map provides a description where the picture was actually taken. This can definitely harm your child as the other Instagram users can easily find out  his or her whereabouts. When you are adding pictures, make sure that the option ‘Add to Photo Map’ is turned off.

Try to monitor your child and make them aware of the dangers of the social media world.  Prevention is better than a cure and educating your children about the benefits and harms of social media and what information you should and shouldn’t share online will help them get the most out of Instagram and other social forums without exposing themselves to dangers or regrets.

Use Instagram responsibly and enjoy posting your pictures!

This Guest post was written by Samuel Johnson, a well-known social media marketer. In this article, he was discussing about how to get followers on Instagram and how to protect your child from the ill effects of the internet world.