Making Instagram More Engaging for Its Teenage Users

You are a product manager at Instagram. How would you get users aged 13 to 19 more engaged with the app? ```hint Define it before you grow it Decide what engagement should mean for this age group before proposing features, then compare how a 13-year-old and a 19-year-old actually use the app. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does engagement here mean time spent, or active behavior such as posting, replying and messaging, and is there a well-being limit on how far we should push it? - Should 18- and 19-year-olds be treated like 13- to 17-year-olds, given that minors come with stricter safety defaults and regulation? - Is there a known problem behind this, such as usage in this group falling, or is it an open opportunity? - Which surfaces are in scope: feed, Reels, Stories, messaging, or the whole app? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A definition of engagement for this age group, and why it is the right one to grow - A chosen segment within the 13 to 19 range, compared against the others - Pain points grounded in how teenagers use Instagram and the apps they choose instead - Prioritized solutions, a first version, and a north star with guardrails - Safety, well-being and regulatory risks of growing engagement among minors ### Follow-up Questions - Your feature raises time spent, but teens in the test report feeling worse after using the app. What do you do? - How would you run an experiment on this feature when most participants are minors? - Which app is your solution taking time away from, and why would teenagers switch for it?