Instagram’s New Features: What Parents Should Know in 2025
In this blog post, let’s look at some of Instagram’s newer features and how it could affect children and youngsters. We will also see how Mobicip can help your child navigate social media safely.
Why You Should Know About Instagram’s New Features
A 2024 report showed that the total number of Instagram users globally was 1.4 billion. This number was only projected to rise in 2025 to 1.44 billion. Indeed, Instagram is one of the most popular apps in the world today, especially among young people. In 2023, Instagram was noted to be the third most popular app among US teens and as of 2025, around 29.5% of global Instagram users were observed to be between the ages of 18 and 24. Instagram itself is cognizant of its popularity – especially with younger users – and is constantly evolving to keep these users engaged. For example, in 2024, the company announced the launch of “teen accounts” geared specifically towards adolescents to ensure their online safety.
While several of Instagram’s newer features seek to improve community and safety, they also raise several concerns – when for example do these updates blur the lines between connection and exposure and when do they fuel increased screen time and social comparison.
Key Features for New Users
Here are some of the key new features that you must be aware of.
Reposts
A feature that allows users to repost others’ posts and reels onto their followers’ feeds. Posts reposted by a user can also be found in a separate tab in their profile.
Tip for parents:
Talk to the kids about the importance of verifying facts and being respectful online.
Friends Map
An optional feature that allows users to share their real-time location with their friends through DMs.
Tip For Parents
Encourage kids to share their location only with trusted friends and when necessary. Most of the time, it may even be wise to turn off the feature altogether.
Friends Tab in Reels
A separate tab under the Reels section that allows users to see reels their friends have engaged with by liking, commenting, and/or reposting.
Tip For Parents
Encourage children to create a safe space for themselves online with people they trust and can be open with. Remind them that not everything is a performance and that social media should be a constructive space. Also teach them that in life, they will miss out on some conversations and that’s okay. It’s important to understand the things that make them happy and devote time to those rather than focusing on all the noise of social media.
Picture-in-Picture for Reels
A feature still in the developmental stage that allows users to view reels in the background of their phone even when outside the Instagram app.
Tip For Parents
Set clear time-limits for app usage. Use tools such as Mobicip to help control screentime and prevent endless scrolling.
Key Features for Businesses and Creators (What Kids Might See)
These features may be relevant for adolescent creators online. Even if one’s child isn’t a creator themselves, they may see these changes reflected in the content they consume or be interested in these changes should they wish to pursue a career online in the future.
Enhanced Creator Insights
A feature that adds to the statistics and insights provided to creators with new metrics such as engagement timing – i.e., the point at which users liked a certain post or reel, new follower demographics, follower growth with regard to various posts or reels, etc.
Individual Like Counts for Carousels
A feature still in the developmental stage that displays the like count on each individual photo or video within a carousel post.
DM Filtering and Custom Folders
A feature that allows creators on Instagram to organise their inboxes according to various criteria. For example, users can categorise messages that come from businesses, creators, subscribers, and verified accounts. They can also sort by follower count and recency.
Creator Marketplace
A feature that helps connect creators with brands. It allows creators to set up their portfolios and find and negotiate deals.
Enhanced Partnership Ad Options
An update that allows brands to provide “testimonials” from various creators in order to advertise their product or service.
What Parents Can Do
Ultimately, while it may seem a challenging task for parents to keep their children safe online while giving them their digital freedom, it’s not impossible. Parents can protect their children by:
- Staying informed about Instagram’s evolving features. Articles such as this one and Instagram’s Help Centre can help them with this.
- Using Instagram’s Family Center for built-in supervision tools. With Family Center, parents can access certain information about Instagram accounts they supervise, including screen-time, follower details, etc.
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Leveraging Mobicip to:
- Limit screen time across devices
- Filter social media content
- Monitor online activity and usage patterns
- Encourage balanced tech habits
- Keeping communication open. Parents can have healthy discussions with their child on what they enjoy about Instagram and how they can use it responsibly.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Instagram’s features are designed and updated to keep the platform engaging and relevant, especially for younger users. However, these updates often come with numerous challenges. By evolving with the app and keeping themselves and their children aware of its benefits and harms alike, parents can adopt an informed, organized approach to online safety. Leveraging external tools such as Mobicip and internal tools such as the Family Centre can further help parents guard their children while providing them with all the amenities of the digital age
