Creating a Safer and More Personalized Instagram Experience

At Instagram, our priority is ensuring that everyone – especially teenagers – enjoys safe, positive, and age-appropriate experiences while finding value in the time they spend on our platform. Alongside the protective features already integrated into Teen Accounts, we aim to give young users more tools to customize their Instagram journey, enabling it to grow and evolve with their passions and interests.

Resetting Recommendations for a Fresh Start

To support this, we’re introducing a feature that allows all Instagram users, including teens, to reset their content recommendations effortlessly. With just a few taps, users can clear their suggested content across Explore, Reels, and Feed, essentially starting fresh.

Over time, recommendations will adapt again, becoming personalized based on new interactions with content and accounts. During the reset, users also have the option to review their followed accounts and unfollow those that no longer align with their preferences.

Tips for Organizing Your Instagram

In partnership with organizational experts Joanna and Clea from The Home Edit, we’re offering guidance for parents and teens on managing their Instagram experience. Just as they might declutter their living spaces, they can take stock of their Instagram feeds, deciding whether the content they engage with still suits their interests or if they’d prefer something new.

Tools to Customize Your Instagram

This upcoming feature, set to launch globally, complements the existing tools that help users curate their recommendations. For instance:

• Users can mark content they enjoy on the Explore page by tapping the three dots and selecting “Interested.”
• In the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, teens can now choose topics they want to see more of, ranging from sports and travel to cooking and books.
• Users can hide content they don’t like by selecting “Not interested” from the menu or use the Hidden Words feature to filter posts containing specific words or phrases.

Additionally, teens can take advantage of tools like:

• The Following Feed, which displays posts chronologically from accounts they follow.
• Favorites List, to prioritize content from specific accounts, appearing higher in their Feed or in a dedicated Favorites section.
• Close Friends, for greater control over who views their Stories.
• Your Activity in settings, where they can review and manage previous interactions to maintain control of their digital footprint.

Regularly reviewing and updating their following list is another way teens can ensure their Instagram remains a space they genuinely enjoy.

A Commitment to Age-Appropriate Content

We understand the concerns of parents about teens encountering inappropriate or sensitive content online. To address this, we enforce strict content guidelines for younger users. Content that violates our rules is removed entirely, while additional measures are in place to prevent teens from seeing potentially mature material. In some cases, this content is hidden even if it comes from accounts they follow.

To provide more transparency, we’ve launched a new page in our Transparency Center. This resource explains the layers of protection we use to safeguard teens, detailing the types of content we remove, restrict, or avoid recommending to them.

By continually refining these features and tools, Instagram remains committed to fostering a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.