10 best tools to limit social media apps for teens

Accessing the best social media apps for teens can be a challenging experience, especially if it’s your first time.

Literally every teen these days has social media apps on their device, which might lead to challenges like excessive screen time or interaction with inappropriate content.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you can take measures as a parent or guardian to ensure they don’t overuse it or interact with explicit content.

This piece will guide you on all the necessary measures you need to take to ensure that your kid has a safe online presence.

How do social media apps affect teens?

Teens use social apps as an indispensable part of their lives, and they have huge effects on psychics and behavior patterns of young users.

Social media in their relations to adolescent experience is so interwoven that the effects are as diverse and complex as its teenagers.

Besides that, the wide understanding of the complexities may comprise an in-depth analysis of the diverse positive and negative parts of these effects.

Pros:

• It expands the reach around the world.
• Young people can represent themselves in this way by their artistic philosophies.
• Social media can play as an excellent tool where education is concerned and access to information.
• It connects teens and facilitates them to pass on their talent to others.
• Teenagers are able to get social support through groups.

Cons:

• Children tend to be more susceptible to becoming addicted to social media apps.
• This cyberbullying can be an undeniable fact.
• If being abused it has negative consequences on one’s academic progress.
• Privacy can be a great concern as well.

Is there an app that limits social media for teens?

Certainly, many parental control apps are offered that let parents restrict their teens’ social media activity and watch over it. These applications have numerous functions that ensure teenagers a better and safer online space. 

Let’s look at the positive aspects of these parental control applications.

1. Screen time restrictions

Parental control apps offer a lifeline for parents to efficiently supervise their teenagers’ screen time. Through the daily or hourly restrictions for particular apps or device usage, these features promote a balanced approach to both online and offline actions.

2. Content filtering

As teenagers are easily exposed to inappropriate or age-inappropriate content on social media platforms, parental control applications use effective content filtering features. Parents can personalize content filters according to family values and the students’ maturity levels.

3. Activity monitoring

Activity tracking features empower parents with knowledge of their teens’ virtual activity. Parents can get an insight into their teens’ social media habits. In most cases, parental control apps offer behavioral reports that reveal patterns, trends, and changes in teens’ digital activities.

4. Geofencing

The availability of geofencing features nowadays makes these apps even more secure. Parents can set virtual boundaries, and the app sends instant notifications if their children run in or out of the defined prohibited areas. It gives them real-time access to their children’s whereabouts, allowing them to know that their children are safe.

5. App blocking and unblocking

Among the great options Internet parental control provides is the control of specific apps. This feature allows parents to control their access to social media platforms, online gaming platforms, or other applications of concern. 

Moreover, some applications let you introduce a one-time ban on chosen apps to remind teens about balance. It thus trains in building positive tech involvement.

6. Notification and reporting

The parental control apps are a real-time hint to keep the parents aware of the teens’ online activities. 

Whether it is an effort to swing the door to prohibited content open or a violation of the set boundaries, real-time alerts bring parents very close to the teens’ digital world. Concurrently, numerous parental control apps supply comprehensive end-of-the-week and end-of-the-month reports.

10 tools to limit social media apps for teens

Now that you’re aware of the benefits and necessity of social media limiting tools, it’s time to look at apps that can help you manage teens’ social use.  Here is a comprehensive list of 10 great apps that can help kids to escape the screen and focus on other things.

FlashGet Kids

FlashGet Kids is a comprehensive parental control app that offers social media app blocking. You can block apps that you feel are not appropriate for teens or limit their screen time. FlashGet Kids also uses web filtering to keep your child away from irrelevant content. Moreover, this app enables you to easily track your child’s live location, screen-mirror their devices and set up Geofence.

One Sec

One Sec is a simple yet effective app that helps users limit their time on social media. One thing that stands out is that various psychologists recommend it as a great tool to retrain your relationship with social media. When you open any social media app, the whole screen slowly turns grey, then purple with the words “It’s time to take a deep breath.”

AppBlock

AppBlock is an app that enables users to reduce the time spent on distracting apps. It has features that extend beyond the primary social media app limiting functions.

Freedom

Freedom app is an app and website blocker that helps block distractions so you can get the work done. Its numerous features enable you to manage your screen time, so you live a healthier and happier life.

Flipd

Flippd enables you to regain control of your digital life by reducing or completely eliminating social media app time. It lets you know how you use your time by tracking all your tasks. With Flippd, you focus on achieving milestones and forget about fighting distractions.

Forest

Forest is a productivity app that lets you stay focused on the things that really matter. It works creatively by giving a chance to plant a virtual tree that grows everytime you resist desires to give in to distractions like social media apps. If you give in to distractions, the tree starts to wither.

SelfControl

SelfControl is a free and open-source application for macOS that allows you to block any distracting websites, mail, and anything else online. It allows you to create a blocking list of websites and apps you don’t want to access, including social media apps like Reddit, Instagram, etc.

Offtime

Offtime is an app that enables you to regain control of your screen time through its unique features. It allows you to set various profiles for your family members and create unique goals regarding working hours, resting with family, and using social media.

Moment

Moment tracks the overall phone usage pattern, allowing you to see how much time you spend on your phone and which apps you love using. It also has a “Moment Coach” feature, which helps you set goals to reduce screen time.

StayFocusd

StayFocused is a productivity extension for Chrome browsers that enables you to block distracting websites. It allows you to set daily screen time limits for specific websites, including social media.

Additional strategies to limit social media usage

Apart from social media blocking apps, there are many more strategies you may use to help limit your teen’s social media usage:

Schedule social media usage clearly

Instead of blocking social media apps, you can set how much your teen can spend daily on every social media app. This way, your teen will not need a social media blocking app to stop them from using their phones forcibly.  

Promote alternative activities 

You can urge your kid to engage in distracting activities that benefit their lives. For example, they can try sports such as weight-lifting, and football. They may also pursue other hobbies, such as painting or community work.  

Have an open talk about social media safety

You can also converse with your kid about the potential dangers of staying longer on social media. For example, you can share how their mental health can be affected negatively through constant comparison. You can also share about potential cyberbullying and personal information theft.  

Final thoughts

Limiting social media apps for teens can help improve their well-being in many ways. They’ll be able to focus on the most important things, such as their studies. Your teen will also focus on connecting on a deeper level with families or their friends.   

As a parent, you should actively protect your teens from the dangers of social media, such as cyberbullying and personal information theft. If kids are at a stage where they lack self-control, I think you need a third-party app to force the management and setting of barriers on your kid’s phone. The FlashGet Kids app can help you train your teens’ social media habits and help them focus on things that matter.