In a matter of weeks last spring quite a few older elementary and middle school children whom I know jumped on the Instagram bandwagon, and they continue to have fun with it. The social networking photography app, now owned by Facebook, lives on their wireless devices, making it easy to use without getting encumbered with computers.
The minimum age for the Instagram app is 13, but that hasn’t stopped the site from attracting many children younger than that. While I tend to be someone who takes age requirements seriously, many parents, after checking out various sites, are more comfortable than I am with letting their children use sites when they are a bit younger than 13 years of age.
The biggest challenge for adults is keeping an eye on the content and quality of the photos that their children are uploading to Instagram. Problems can occur when children err in judgment as they make decisions about what to share (and what not to share).
In any event, all of us — parents, teachers, and any other adults in children’s lives — need to learn more about Instagram. I’ve added the app to my phone and plan to get acquainted with it. The list of articles below offers parents and teachers lots of information — how Instagram works and how children socialize when they use the social networking app with their friends.
- Instagram: An App to Help Parents Keep Up With Their Teens – Christian Science Monitor
- A Beginners Guide to Instagram – CNET
- Getting Started With Instagram for Android – CNET (much info in the article applies to iPhone)
- All About Instagram – Metro-West Daily News, Framingham, MA
- How Instagram Became the Social Network for Tweens – CNET
- Instagram App Review – Common Sense Media
- Instagram: What Parents Need to Know – Washington Post
- Instagram: Is It OK for Kids? – YourSphere for Parents
- 11 Instagram Tips For Beginners: Etiquette Rules Every User Should Know – Huffington Post
- 6 Must Know Privacy Tips for Instagram Newbies – Here’s The Thing blog
- Instagram Tips for Parents – Instagram website
- A Guide to the Instagram Filters You’ll Soon Be Seeing on Facebook – The Atlantic
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