Instagram Teen: A Band-Aid Maybe, But Not Innovation.
Three lessons for creating stuff that matters.
It’s a little after 8am on Wednesday, September 18th, and I just dropped my kids at school. Like most mornings, I switch over from their playlist which listens like an NBA pregame show at dawn (sigh) to The Daily. I don’t get long into the episode before an ad announcing “Instagram Teen Accounts” with a lot of new-product gusto comes on. I immediately think, “Wow– this could be big!” I don’t even know what brain I’m thinking from— my marketer brain or my mom brain— but they’re both buzzing, ping-ponging possibilities back and forth. Before getting to my next destination across town, I pull over to look up “Instagram Teen Accounts” online. Here’s a sampling of some of the headlines that come up in my search:
“Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: Built-In Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents”1 - Meta
(oooh, exciting!)
“Instagram launches ‘teen accounts’ as child safety scrutiny mounts”2 - The Washington Post
(ok, they’re calling it a “launch”— must be something special.)
“Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes”3 - The New York Times
(wait, “changes”??? I thought this was a new product launch.)
“Instagram's Teen Accounts aren't really for teens”4 - Vox
(oh— come on!)
In a matter of minutes, I go from formulating dreams of a safe, teen-only platform that is like training wheels for the ‘real’ social media environment to utter disappointment. “This isn’t innovation,” I think. “It’s a band-aid.” And, here’s the difference.
Band-aids solve business problems. Innovations solve consumer problems.
Fairly or unfairly, pretty much every major news outlet spun Instagram’s launch of Teen Accounts as self-preservation and damage control. Isaac and Singer for the New York Times put it this way:
“The changes are one of the most far-reaching set of measures undertaken by an app to address teenagers’ use of social media, as scrutiny over young people’s experiences online has ramped up.”5
And, they quote Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, a children’s advocacy and media ratings group as saying,
“They’re only acting now because they’re under pressure from lawmakers, advocates and a groundswell of public opinion.”6
Let’s just say there’s a visceral skepticism among mainstream media surrounding Instagram/Meta/Zuckerberg’s motives. I’m not one to defend I/M/Z7, but I’ll admit that I went to a more wholesome (albeit, business-motivated) place when considering Instagram’s reason for launching Teen Accounts. I initially thought it might be about teen penetration growth and early adoption by appealing to their gatekeepers, parents.
You see, my initial perception of the launch, fueled by Meta’s splashy announcement and my parental pipedreams, was that these accounts were going to exist on a completely separate and new, teen-only platform. A place barred from adults, except for some parental oversight, where teens can— yes— interact with one another, but also learn how to behave in this crazy and wildly ubiquitous virtual world. I’m not a policymaker, nor am I a tech guru. I’m trained in brand and product innovation so my mind naturally goes to these far-out-there places. I had some beautiful cross between SnapChat, Roblox, IXL, Grammarly, and corporate IT training modules in mind! I thought maybe posts that present as bullying would get called out or shut down, teens could earn “points” for proper use of social etiquette, and there would be a Grammarly-style “did you mean to sound aggressive?” AI helper along the way. Oh, and like corporate IT departments, the platform would periodically issue native-seeming tests to train young users how to respond (or not) to scams and creeper bait. I know it sounds a bit ‘big brother’, but I swear my imagination was going for educational.
But it doesn’t really matter… because Instagram’s teen launch is nothing like this. Instagram Teen Accounts is basically an extended set of controls on the existing platform. It’s not a separate thing with any of the intentional and proactive educational features. It’s straight-up enhanced monitoring (some “automatic” and some parent-facilitated) and enhanced “filtration” (also in quotes because who really knows if Instagram’s AI-enabled age detection and content filtration is really happening). Isaac and Singer of the New York Times are right to suggest that teens don’t want this8— especially those that dream of Insta-fame— and guess what? Many parents don’t either.
, a parent and education consultant and author of two books on helping parents deal with the realities of their children’s digital existence, frequently refers to two approaches to parenting kids and teens as they enter the digital world: monitoring and mentoring. Monitoring is about tracking, following, layering on controls, and sometimes spying (the Instagram Teen Accounts approach). Mentoring is about teaching, trusting, modeling, and conversing. She is pro-mentorship and draws on her extensive work with families and schools as well as hundreds of interviews with kids/teens, parents, educators, clinicians, and scholars to demonstrate the challenges and ills of monitoring and the advantages (for parent and child) of mentoring.9 I’m a believer in her work, and I’m not alone. Her latest book, Growing Up in Public, which details her evidence and theories on mentoring over monitoring, is a national bestseller.But it’s definitely not black and white (and I think Heitner would say this too). For example, I don’t let my kids have social media. This is pretty much monitoring. I also set controls on their Roblox accounts and require all friend requests to go through my phone. Also monitoring. At the same time, I don’t check their texts or search histories, and I take every possible opportunity to remind them to never communicate online with someone they’ve not met in real life and to never do or say anything on their devices that they wouldn’t want me, their teacher, their grandma, or future self to see. Mentoring. Both sets of responsibilities are time-consuming (and annoying as heck to my kids), but I much prefer mentoring over monitoring. At least mentoring feels like an investment in their future and mine. With it, comes the promise that one day they’ll instinctively act by my “lessons” all on their own. Then I can move on to being an annoying mom about other stuff. In contrast, the job of monitoring is never done, and my kids gain very little from it. Protection, sure— but a good amount of naiveté too.
So let’s get back to some key questions:
Does Instagram Teen Accounts solve a motivating problem for parents?
I don’t think so. It’s a monitoring retrofit by an untrustworthy provider. There are plenty of third-party parent monitoring apps out there like Bark and Aura that do this job well without any of Instagram’s trust or conflict-of-interest baggage. I mean, it’s literally as if Instagram is saying to parents “We know our algorithm and AI capabilities are a ‘black box’ and have a tendency to create unhealthy environments and habits for teens, but don’t worry— we’re going to use them to create a better, safer system. Trust us.” What?!? And they’ve completely bypassed the opportunity to help parents do the job of mentoring better, faster, easier.Does Instagram Teen Accounts solve a motivating problem for teens?
No— the new controls certainly don’t make the platform any more attractive to teens unless online safety is one of their primary concerns (unlikely), and as Isaacs and Singer hypothesize, they probably make Instagram less attractive to most10.So, why did Instagram launch Teen Accounts?
Well, I think we’ve established that this launch is probably not going to solve Instagram’s slide in popularity among teens, dropping from #3 most used to #4 since 202211. So maybe this really is just about damage control— appeasing lawmakers, lessening the likelihood of more lawsuits, and convincing child psychology experts and parents to throw them a bone. Okay. Good luck.
Band-aids deliver on what the research says. Innovation delivers on what the research means.
“But wait, but wait… we did our research and parents told us they want more control!” (That’s my imaginary I/M/Z12 representative talking.)
Yes, I/M/Z did do research which is summarized in a report by TTC Labs, the consumer research and co-creation group started and funded by Meta (interesting), titled “How research and consultation informed Instagram Teen Accounts: a new protected experience for teens, guided by parents”. I’m not here to comment on the validity, scope, or methodology of this research (the report is pretty vague on these details anyway). I think we can glean plenty by looking at their findings and where they ended up.
TTC Labs’ report talks a ton about parents’ desire for control. So what does Instagram deliver with Teen Accounts? Quite literally, more controls! From all my years working in brand positioning and product innovation across dozens of industries and in connection with a vast array of consumers, I can confidently say that control is by far the most commonly stated and complex desire of modern humanity. Physical, tangible control is one thing— but mental, emotional, and intangible control is a different beast entirely. The two are sometimes related— a bet Instagram seems to be placing— but, when it comes to social media, I’m not so sure.
Here are just a handful of ways in which Instagram’s teen launch probably doesn’t deliver on what parents really mean when they ask for “more control”.
Worry time.
Because Instagram Teen Accounts requires parents to trust a system consisting of algorithms, AI, and big tech values and incentives that they inherently do not trust, their time spent worrying and wondering “Is this really working?” is likely on over-drive. That’s not more control.Anxiety about what’s to come.
When I learned of Instagram Teen Accounts, I thought, “Oh boy— it’s only a matter of time before SnapChat, TikTok, YouTube, and Discord follow suit.” Most parents don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of all of these systems and new sets of controls, but will they have to now in order to determine what’s okay for their kids? That’s a daunting and out-of-control idea.Distress over wasted time.
I mentioned above that monitoring (in contrast to mentoring) can feel like wasted time— it’s minutes parenting your child in a way they’ll never experience, internalize, or learn from. That’s also not delivering more control.
So it seems Instagram Teen Accounts leave quite a few big and meaningful interpretations of “control” unaddressed. And, perhaps the solution even exacerbates the very problem it’s supposed to fix. Maybe I/M/Z and TTC Labs simply missed these details in their research, but more likely they went in seeking validation of an easy fix (a band-aid), rather than understanding to inform something truly game-changing (innovation).
Band-aids don’t last. Innovation does.
There’s a pretty broad consensus among those in the know that the ingenuity (if we can even call it that) and stickiness of Instagram Teen Accounts is not going to last. Some hypothesize that other platforms and competitors will quickly follow suit making Instagram’s teen launch the new baseline and nothing special.13 Others suggest the changes will deter users causing Instagram to eventually scale back its teen controls or go in a different direction.14 Both possibilities sound about right.
I don’t really buy into the ideas of “good innovation” and “bad innovation” or “disruptive innovation” and “non-disruptive innovation”. I think there’s either stuff that changes the way people act and think forever (innovation) or stuff that is easily outdone or undone (a band-aid). The difference is easy to see in hindsight as I and others are doing with Instagram Teen Accounts, but it can also be detected (and therefore planned for) at important product development stage gates as well: the research stage, design stage, resource and budgeting stage, and testing stage. The question worth continually asking is “Are we really doing what we set out to do?”.
Maybe a band-aid is all you want. In that case, go ahead and narrowly interpret the research, use a limited set of tools for development, and measure success as speed to market, fast ROI, and creation of something (anything!) new to hype in the marketplace. But if innovation is what you want, then be prepared to invest time, effort, and money.
According to the TTC Labs report, I/M/Z set out to address the following insight and need with Instagram Teen Accounts:
“Our research has consistently shown that parents/guardians and more importantly teens themselves want a social media experience designed for teens.”15
Huh, “designed for teens” you say? That sounds like something built from the ground up. That sounds expensive, time-consuming, risky, and potentially ground-breaking. But, sadly, I/M/Z abandoned this ambition from the get-go when they opted to work within the confines of their existing adult platform.
Bottom line, change requires change. Sounds so obvious, but I can’t tell you how often I, too, have been swept up in the hope that a tweak (a flavor change, a packaging shift… a new layer of controls) will lead to a magnificent shift in consumer perception, behavior, and adoption. It rarely works that way. To end up with different outcomes often means starting with different inputs. This is what gives innovation staying power. It literally can’t be undone or easily outdone because nothing like it ever before existed.
Meta, “Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: Built-In Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents.” pub date: 9/17/24, https://about.fb.com/news/2024/09/instagram-teen-accounts/.
Naomi Nix, “Instagram launches ‘teen accounts’ as child safety scrutiny mounts,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/17/instagram-teen-accounts-meta-child-safety-scrutiny/.
Mike Isaac and Natasha Singer, “Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/technology/instagram-teens-safety-privacy-changes.html.
Ellen Ioanes, “Instagram's Teen Accounts aren't really for teens,” pub date: 9/18/24, https://www.vox.com/technology/372615/meta-instagram-teen-accounts-kosa-social-media-mental-health.
Mike Isaac and Natasha Singer, “Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/technology/instagram-teens-safety-privacy-changes.html.
Ibid.
Instagram/Meta/Zuckerberg.
Mike Isaac and Natasha Singer, “Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/technology/instagram-teens-safety-privacy-changes.html.
Devorah Heitner, PhD, Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World, TarcherPerigee, Sep 2023.
Mike Isaac and Natasha Singer, “Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/technology/instagram-teens-safety-privacy-changes.html.
Anderson, Faverio, Gottfried, “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023,” pub date: 12/11/23, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023.
Instagram/Meta/Zuckerberg.
Mike Isaac and Natasha Singer, “Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes,” pub date: 9/17/24, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/technology/instagram-teens-safety-privacy-changes.html.
Ellen Ioanes, “Instagram's Teen Accounts aren't really for teens,” pub date: 9/18/24, https://www.vox.com/technology/372615/meta-instagram-teen-accounts-kosa-social-media-mental-health.
A quote from Dr. Kara Brisson-Boivin, Director of Research at MediaSmarts, in TTC Labs Report, How research and consultation informed Instagram Teen Accounts: a new protected experience for teens, guided by parents, Page 3, https://www.ttclabs.net/report/how-research-and-consultation-informed-instagram-teen-accounts-a-new-protected-experience-for-teens-guided-by-parents.