On Tuesday, Meta announced new features that support families and teens and make it easier still to manage how much time they spend on its apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. The company said that it is bringing supervision by parents to Messenger so that parents can see how teens spend their time online and who they interact with on Messenger
“We’re also introducing new tools to limit unwanted interactions in Instagram DM and Messenger, launching Quiet Mode on Instagram globally, nudging teens to set time limits on Facebook, and giving parents even more ways to supervise their teens on Instagram,” the company wrote in its official post.
In the platform’s Family Centre, Meta is reportedly adding Messenger supervision. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada will be the first countries to use the features. To safeguard their children’s privacy and safety, Meta will allow parents and guardians the ability to keep an eye on their teenagers’ Messenger activities.
Additionally, they will be able to track changes to their teen’s Messenger contact list, see their privacy settings, and keep tabs on how much time they spend using the app due to this feature. The parent or guardian will be notified if a teen reports someone, but only if the teen specifically consents to it.
“These tools allow parents to see how their teen uses Messenger, from how much time they’re spending on messaging to providing information about their teen’s message settings. These tools do not allow parents to read their teen’s messages,” said Meta.
Parental Control in Messenger
Parents now have access to settings for things like who can message their teenagers—just friends, friends of friends, or no one—and who can see their tales. If the child changes any of these settings, their guardians will also be notified.
Parental Supervision on Messenger will get more privacy and security features, according to Meta, so that parents can help teens better manage their time and activities on the social media platform.
Parental control features on Instagram
Similar parental control features are also being added by Meta for Instagram users. According to the website, users can now enable notifications so that they are aware of their teen blocks someone. By enabling parents to be added as an extra layer of support on the platform, the new update will help teens.
Additionally, it will allow parents to see whose accounts their teen follows and is followed by, as well as how many friends their teen shares with those accounts.
Invitation feature in Instagram DM
In the meantime, Meta has introduced a new control tool for Instagram, its photo and video-sharing app.
A new invitation option has been added to the Direct Messages (DMs) section as the initial upgrade. To request permission to connect with someone they aren’t currently connected with, the new update will ask users to send an invitation. Instagram has clarified it clear that these invitations can only be sent via text and that senders can only send one invitation at a time.
