Instagram gives teens exclusive app icons — adults left out of the glow-up

Instagram is quietly unveiling a subtle yet telling status symbol – one that’s offered only to its teen users.

This week, Meta announced that only accounts flagged as teen accounts will be able to access new custom app icons for Instagram. Teens can now swap out the traditional icon for one of six stylised designs — neon, clear glass, fire, flowers, green slime, and more. The change is simple in function but large in implication: Instagram is using visual identity to signal age-based exclusivity.

The twist? Adults — the bulk of its user base — are locked out of the feature. Invitations for older users to join this icon club are explicitly off the table. “We have no current plans to expand access to older users or paid subscribers,” Instagram told TechCrunch.

On its surface, baby-pink or slime icons might seem trivial, but they arrive at a critical moment. Instagram is under pressure from all sides: regulators insisting on safer spaces for minors, parents demanding better protection, and teens shifting to newer platforms when they feel the app has “aged out”. In that context, offering a design perk to teens becomes strategy.

It’s part carrot, part chase for youth culture. Teens have grown accustomed to home-screen customisation. As Social Media Today notes, “the update allows teens more ways to express themselves via the app.”

Meanwhile, Instagram’s broader teen-account reforms (e.g., PG-13 content filters, default private status) have been interpreted as enforcement-heavy; the custom icons flip that narrative by offering privilege rather than just restriction.

Yet the move has drawn backlash — from adults who feel left out and from commentators who wonder if this is mere lip-service. On X (formerly Twitter), replies to Instagram’s post ranged from “why only teens?” to comparisons with Snapchat’s paid icon customisation service.

Ultimately, what’s being signalled is clear: Instagram sees its future in the teen demographic, and is willing to draw visible lines to keep them engaged. The custom icon might be playful — but the message is serious.