Earlier this week, Instagram released two guidebooks for parents and teens with best practices for using the platform in a way that is safe, empowering and positive. These guidebooks were produced in partnership with The Jed Foundation, an organization that aims to protect teenagers and young adults’ mental health through transitional times. 

The guidebook aimed towards teenagers focuses on gaining more perspective and realizing that the picture-perfect content that populates the platform is just one of the many facets of a users’ life. The goal with this guidebook is to empower the teen user to be inspired by the content, and not fall into a vicious cycle of comparison and insecurity. The guidebook in itself is an interactive experience with quizzes and copy that pertains to each users personal experience and answers.

The parents’ guidebook aims to teach the warning signs that could indicate depression and social anxiety in young users. In addition to helping parents diagnose early signs of a mental health issue in their child, it details the different tools accessible on Instagram that can help have a more positive experience. 

The release of these two handbooks follows Instagram’s decision to progressively remove Like counts, which was also positioned as a way to create a more positive experience overall. Safety and emotional wellbeing are top of mind at Instagram as the year wraps up, and we are curious to see what new tools they will implement in 2020 to further ensure young users aren’t being negatively affected by the platform. An increasing number of social channels are following suit and analyzing how their platforms affect users, which will result in a more empowering online experience overall. For more information and to download the guides, see here. 

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