Children on Instagram

Children on Instagram

            Technology has drastically changed our life style and continues to do so at a very quick rate. Social media is just one example of the many aspects of technology in everyday life. Since the introduction of MySpace, social media has exploded and with every coming year new apps and new styles are emerging. Social Media accounts are now part of everyday life. With a long list from ranging from: dating, gaming, blogging, picture sharing etc… many aspects of life, including some careers, now revolve around Social Media. Social Media does not appear to going away but there are many dangers with Social Media. Privacy has become a concern with internet footprints and many users not realizing what info that they are sharing and giving away. Young children have grown up using technology and many are using an application called Instagram, a photo sharing app. Is it safe for children and is enough being done to insure children are protected.

            When I was a child there were a lot of emphasis put on "stranger danger" theme. I vividly remember being lectured about the difference between a stranger and a friend. The society tries to protect kids and teach children to understand the dangers of strangers. Instagram is a very popular social media app, where someone can make an account and post pictures or short videos. This sounds like a harmless app however there are some concerns and issues. Firstly, users can follow other users, and once you follow someone they do not automatically follow you back like with Facebook. This lead to the new trend of having users trying to obtain as many followers as possible, however keep the accounts they followed to a minimal. Kim Kardashian is a prime example of this. She is only following 105 accounts, however has 82.2 million accounts following her. 

 

           

It is impossible that she knows 88.2 million people, so she is sending a message that it is okay to let strangers follow you. Kim Kardashian is famous and loves to share about her life and things she is doing. She is trying to build a "brand" and uses Instagram as a marketing tool. However this method has become a trend with the youth. The other day I looked up a young students account and he had 500 people he was following but was followed by 1500. I doubt that he knows all 1500 people following him. I can’t imagine many parents being thrilled about a thousand strangers following their adolescent child.

            There are attempts to regulate the amount of young minorities on the site, there is an age limit on Instagram. A user must be at least 13 years old to make an account under their user agreement statement. That is reveling that there has been an attempt at regulartion, however there are no consciences or enforcement for children to lie about their age an get access earlier than the minimal age of 13. Instagram does not monitor and delete underage accounts, and even when parents who emailed them directly to take down accounts, these request are not completed in a quick matter.  “Unfortunately, Instagram is very difficult to deal with. They are only required to delete the account of a minor under the age of 13 if they have “actual knowledge” that the child is under 13.” ThirdParent (2014) Some parents even had to go as far as sending a copy of the birth certificate in order to get the account removed. This need to be improved and Instragram should find a better way of confirming age instead of the honor system.
            Is thirteen old enough for a person to use Instagram and make the correct choice? With five hundred million active users it is impossible for a company this large to monitor all the posts. Majority of the posts are innocent and are harmless to children, however, there is a lot of adult content being posted unregulated. Foul language is usually rampant, and many users even have foul languages in there account name. F***jerry for example is just one account that comes to mind. 
 

            Another type of accounts that may be concerning to parents of children under age eighteen is the thousands of Instagram model accounts. Instagram models are woman and men who take photos of themselve and post it online in attempt to build their "brand" and sell their product. What makes this a concern is many are very revealing, with both the men and the woman. There is a no nudity rule but users like “nude yoga girl” found a way around this. “But Nude Yoga Girl has found ways around those rules - for the most part. Making use of perfectly-angled poses and expert lighting that casts shadows in all the right places, she's successfully shared 50 snaps of herself doing yoga in the buff. She has had a few mishaps, she admits. So far, Instagram has removed three of the pictures she's uploaded for showing nipple. But despite the hassle, she actually doesn't have a problem with the restrictions.” Mail Online (2015) The internet is a dangerous place and Instagram lives on children’s phones where they can browse accounts without parent supervision. 

 

            Other dangerous accounts include content that could corrupt a young child. There are plenty of racist, sexist, and other negative accounts that parents should be concerned with. Take a look below at the “Asians are ugly” account. Accounts like this goes against the Instagram terms and conditions however with so many accounts Instagram can only work so fast before they can find and remove these accounts.

 

            Instagram does allow users to become private or block their content from public view. There are two types of Instagram accounts a user can have: there are public accounts, like Kim Kardashian’s where anyone can look her up, and see all her photos with out following her. There are private accounts where users cannot see photos unless the owner of the account accepts the follow request from them. My account is private and I feel that all kids should have their account set to private. Maybe Instagram could make this a standard for accounts owned by minors as a solution. A private account makes children decide who can see their accounts, so they are essentially managing who has access. This effectively can reduce the harm with children being exposed to strangers.

            Almost all children have been bullied at some point in their life. I remember being bullied, and thankfully back then before the rise of online bullying, Instagram and other forms of social media. Once I left school for the day, I did not have to see or have the bully bother me till the next day when I would have another face to face interaction. Many young kids have claimed to been bullied on Instagram. There are several different ways this is happening.  “Bullies can post a malicious or embarrassing photo of a target for all of their followers to see. They can do they same thing with videos. One way kids gather their material is to catch others in compromising photos or videos known as “blackmail moments.” “Bullies can write a caption on a disgusting or insulting photo and tag it with a target’s username. For instance, a teen might find a picture of a nerdy person picking his nose. They then post the picture with a caption that says: “this reminds me of @username.” Last but not least bullies can post cruel remarks under a photo that someone else posts. For instance, if your teen posts a picture of herself modeling a new outfit, others might take this opportunity to make rude comments like “you’re so ugly” or “lose some weight.” Gordan (2016) The list continues and some methods are more common than others. Parents should be concerned about this and think twice before allowing their kids to create accounts especially if they are already being bullied.
            Instagram has recently added advertisements to the application, where companies can pay to have their add show up on account feeds. The post will appear regardless of the user privacy setting. Children are exposed to advertisements all the time, but with Instagram they can use your Instragram account to steer the advertisement to your liking. For example, if I follow 3 car pages I may see a Ford ad shortly, So essentially Instagram is building an advertisement portfolio that can be sold later. “The new Terms of Service suggested Instagram would be allowed to use pictures in advertisements without notifying or compensating users, and to disclose user data to Facebook and to advertisers. Instagram also proposed that the parents of minors implicitly consent to the use of their childrens' images for advertising purposes.” Bowan (2015)
             
          
             By using Instagram you are giving them right to do what they please to the posts that you make. When one uses the app they must agree to the rights and agreements. Maybe we should start to read the long 15 page, 10 size font document that pops up at registration. “You do grant Instagram very broad license rights:  a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use content that you post. This license grant means that you have given Instagram the right to use any of your photos for free, for any reason, anywhere in the world. Instagram can also give those rights to a third party.“Bowan (2015) this is concerning for adults but it more concerning when we talk about children. For example, most children don’t know or understand the ramifications of this. They can also affect their parents because they may post something about the parents that they would rather have soul ownership of. Even posts that are deleted or accounts that are deactivated are still owned by Instagram and the data can be sold to third parties. Parents need to have a conversation with their children about the seriousness of this issue.
            Instagram is just one of many popular social media application that people are using. Children must be protected and parents need to understand the ramifications of allowing their child to use the app. The app’s age limit is not well monitored and it is easy for kids to get around it. Privacy is a major concern and parents must understand that their children photos can be sold to 3^rd party companies and used against their wish. Parents should insure that their kid’s accounts are set to private and that children understand the dangers of strangers on the internet. Instagram has lots of dangerous accounts that parents may not want their child seeing. Parents please take the time to learn and monitor the apps your children are using. The internet is a great learning resource,e but also a very dangerous place and not all apps are created equal or in the users best interest. 

Works Cited

By Nerushka Bowan on January 28, 2015 Posted in Copyright, General. "Who Owns Your Instagram Content? - Social Media Law Bulletin." Social Media Law Bulletin. N.p., 09 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

Dailymail.com, Carly Stern For. "Is This Instagram's Most Naked User? Yoga Enthusiast Finds a Way around the Photo-sharing App's Strict No-nudity Rule by Baring Her Body in a Beautiful Series of Arty Shots." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 12 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

 "How Teens Use Instagram to Cyberbully Others." Gordan  Verywell. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

"Instagram's Terms of Service and Privacy Issues." 'Ethics Sage' N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

"Parents Are Powerless as Instagram Will Not Delete Underage Accounts." ThirdParent. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

@talkrealdebate. "Don’t Think Racism Is an Issue These Days? Just Go on Instagram (and Other Social Media)." Real Talk. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.