My 13yo is pushing for Instagram now that she's "aged out of TikTok." I don't fully understand the difference and ngl I'm tired of fighting these battles. Is one actually better than the other or am I just delaying the inevitable? Curious what age other parents let their kids on social media.
Instagram is more photo focused so slightly less of the algorithm doom spiral, but honestly both are designed to be addictive. If she's begging for Instagram the real issue is just that her friends are on it.
I don't think it matters that much which one. What matters is teaching her to notice when she's doom scrolling mindlessly. That's the real skill. Good luck with that conversation though.
Just set clear boundaries on screen time and check in on what she's actually doing on there. My daughter uses Instagram to follow art accounts and her friends which is fine. The problem is when it becomes the entire personality.
My 14yo has Instagram and honestly it's been fine with parental controls turned on. The bigger battle is just making sure she's not on it past 9pm because she gets weird if she doesn't sleep enough.
They're both pretty bad but Instagram feels slightly less soul-crushing to me. Shorter attention span content on TikTok just seems to scramble young brains more. Could be wrong though.
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If her friends are mostly on Instagram then let her be on Instagram. Isolating her from her peer group backfires anyway. Just stay involved and know her password.