Instagram remains one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among young people. The app makes it possible to share photos and videos, create stories and interact with friends and influencers.
Instagram, or Insta for short, is one of the largest social networks alongside Facebook and TikTok. It offers users the opportunity to create their own profile and connect with each other.
Images and videos can be shared via the profile. Users can either publish content as permanent posts or post it as a story or live video. Stories and live streams disappear after 24 hours, but can be saved as a highlight. The photos and videos of subscribed channels and people are displayed in the feed.
Users can find a wide variety of content on Insta: Postings from stars, brands and challenges through to personal profiles of friends. They can respond with likes and comments, save content and chat with each other via direct messages (“DMs”). Profiles and posts can contain links that lead to other websites.
Users can create and edit their own posts with filters, emojis and fonts directly in the app. Content is sorted by topic using hashtags. Reels (short TikTok-style videos) can be accessed via the video icon.
At the end of 2023, Meta also launched the Threads social media app in Germany. This is linked to Instagram.
Since around 2025, Instagram has increasingly relied on AI services, offering image editing, for example, but also text creation for posts and hashtags via AI. Connecting with each other is also becoming even more possible via “friends tabs” and location functions.
Young people up to the age of 18 automatically have so-called teen accounts with additional protective functions such as restricted contact options and stricter content filters. The accounts are set to private by default and have an integrated time limit – after 60 minutes of use, young people are asked to exit the app. From the age of 16, young people can relax the restrictions themselves. The “Parental control” function allows parents to monitor and restrict their child’s use. Activation must be approved by the parent and the young person.
Data protection: Instagram should be treated with caution when it comes to data protection for several reasons.
Costs: Instagram is basically free of charge. However, many profiles advertise products that can be purchased with just a few clicks. Ads with corresponding links also frequently appear in the feeds and are difficult to distinguish from real content. Creators and influencers can also offer exclusive content that can be accessed via a paid subscription. Meta has also been offering a subscription model for Facebook and Instagram since 2024: For at least €5.99 per month, the provider promises not to show any personalized advertising. Of course, general advertising is still available – and Meta also continues to collect data.
Inappropriate Content: Certain types of content can be problematic for young people, such as erotic images, dangerous challenges, misinformation, or advertising. Influencers’ business models play a particularly significant role here, and young people do not always recognize them. Content created using artificial intelligence, in particular, can contain highly problematic material and is difficult for young people to distinguish from genuine content. This applies, for example, to deepnudes and deepfakes, but also to political campaigns.
Communication risks: Functions such as chats and comments harbor communication risks such as being contacted by strangers, hate speech or cyberbullying.
Artificial intelligence: AI is also becoming an increasingly important topic in social networks. It plays a role in several areas:
Despite the official minimum age of 13, there are no effective age verification measures in place. There are extensive usage and settings options available for minors and their parents. On Handysektor, you can read a summary of the terms of use, and on klicksafe, you can download a flyer with the most important safety information about Instagram for teens.
Parents can link their account with that of their child in the parental control. All setting options can be found on the medien-kindersicher.de website. You can find out how Instagram wants to make the app safer for young people directly on the Instagram website.
Talk with your child to decide at what age they can start using Instagram and what rules they should follow. Review the app’s settings together so your child can use Instagram as safely as possible. Not all photos need to be—or should be—shared with everyone, or even just with friends. In addition to your own boundaries, it is also important that your child knows and respects the copyrights and personal rights of others.
Talk to your child about communication risks. Show your child how they can block or report other users and explain to them when these functions are useful – for example, if someone insults your child in the comments. Your child should not accept requests from strangers and should use their own data, such as their location , sparingly.
Talk to your child about risks such as harmful content, hate speech, disinformation, and political propaganda. Also discuss problematic behavior by influencers and keep the conversation going with your child about one-sided role models and stereotypes. Stay engaged and regularly ask who your child follows on Instagram and who follows them. It’s important for your child to know that they can always talk to you if they have any unpleasant experiences on the platform.
