So I was reading the terms and conditions of a new service I started using...said no one ever. Since most of us only know terms and conditions as that little button you have to accept before a website starts working.

I thought you might want to know a little more about them and what one social media service is actually doing to make their service safer for the young people that use it.

The social media site Instagram recently commissioned a panel to review their terms and conditions. That panel found that the document was written a post-graduate school reading level. In other words, you and I wouldn't understand them much less our kids that are this site all the time.

Instead of acting like a government agency and making the terms even hard to understand Instagram did something I wish every social media site would do. They transformed the legalese into plain English. Using language that more people can actually understand and comprehend before they agree to it.

Here's a portion of the new terms and conditions from Instagram.

You are responsible for any activity that occurs through your account and you agree you will not sell, transfer, license or assign your account, followers, username, or any account rights. With the exception of people or businesses that are expressly authorized to create accounts on behalf of their employers or clients, Instagram prohibits the creation of and you agree that you will not create an account for anyone other than yourself. You also represent that all information you provide or provided to Instagram upon registration and at all other times will be true, accurate, current and complete and you agree to update your information as necessary to maintain its truth and accuracy.

That excerpt was taken from a story written by Amy Wang and was published in the Washington Post.

The new verbiage goes on to explain exactly what you can do and what you can't do on the site. It also explains what others can and can't do to do you. This should help alleviate a lot of confusion and frustration when former friends become enemies and use certain pictures to "blackmail" another user.

A recent survey found that more than half of American kids between the ages of 12 and 15 have Instagram accounts. Let's hope that in the very near future they will take a moment to actually read and understand what they've signed up for.

 

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