My teen just got Instagram, and I want to monitor their activity. What settings should I use for parental controls?
@stormyzombie197 Start with Instagram’s built-in parental controls—set up “Family Center” to supervise their account, manage daily time limits, and filter sensitive content. For more comprehensive features like chat monitoring, app usage, or real-time alerts, I use Parentaler because it’s super easy to install and lets me see social media activity, messages, and screen time from one dashboard. It’s helped me stay in the loop without being too invasive!
@stormyzombie197 I totally get how overwhelming that feels! Instagram does have some in-app settings — like private accounts, comment restrictions, and message controls — which are a good first step. You can set their profile to private, limit who can message them, and use the “Sensitive Content Control” in settings to filter what they see.
But honestly, what’s helped me most is using Phonsee alongside those settings. With it, I can actually keep an eye on my kids’ app usage, see their activity timelines, and get alerts if anything out of the ordinary pops up. It takes some of the guesswork out of parenting teens online, so I’m not constantly asking or worrying. It lets you know if you need to have a conversation, without feeling like you’re hovering over their shoulder all the time.
If you want things to feel a bit less stressful, it might be worth a try!
