Oct
Instagram has quietly rolled out a fun but telling update: users of teen-designated accounts can now customise the app icon on their home screen with one of six new visuals. The move may seem minor — essentially app skin-change — but it hints at deeper strategy: Instagram is doubling down on teen identity, personalisation, and retention in the face of evolving platform competition.
What’s Changing: The Icon Options
For teen-account users, Instagram now offers a small but stylish selection of app icons. With guidance from illustrator Don Carr, the updated icon pack includes aesthetic themes like “chrome”, “cosmic”, “slime” and more. Teen users access the option by tapping the Instagram logo at the top of their home feed and selecting from the new visuals (six in total).
While icon customisation doesn’t change functionality, it gives teens a greater sense of ownership and self-expression — key factors in retaining younger audiences who value uniqueness and style as much as utility.
Why This Matters for Instagram
1. Reinforcing Teen Identity
Teen users crave personalisation. Apps like Snapchat and TikTok have long offered “skins”, themes, or subtle UI changes. Instagram’s icon update shows that Meta is striving to stay relevant to that demographic.
2. Retention & Loyalty Revamp
By giving teens a visible way to signal “this is my IG”, the app subtly fosters deeper commitment: a teen who picks their own icon may feel more tied to the experience — less likely to abandon it for another platform.
3. Flagging Teen Accounts Strategy
The rollout aligns with Instagram’s broader teen-account framework (PG-13 content defaults, enhanced protections). The icon update may appear playful, but it underscores how Instagram is thinking seriously about teen user experience and retention.
4. Creative & Brand Implications
For creators and brands targeting younger audiences, this means a few things: teen users are being given more personal style options, which could influence content theme, aesthetics, and campaign design. If your audience is teens, you may want to align your visuals with these new aesthetics.
Implications for Creators & Brands
Create Visuals that Match Teen Style
With themes like “chrome” or “cosmic” in icon choices, creators can mirror those aesthetics in content: brighter palettes, futuristic filters, slime-style visuals, playful animation. Content that reflects teens’ visual language will resonate better.
Experiment across Accounts
If you’re managing multiple Instagram profiles targeting different age segments, it’s smart to separate teen-facing vs general-audience accounts. Use creative testing on teen profiles: try bold icons, thematic visuals, influencer-led design, then compare performance across your non-teen account. This kind of testing suits a multi-account approach (many creators use Bulk Instagram Accounts to segment strategy and protect core brand presence).
Leverage Personalisation in Campaigns
Brands working with teen audiences might create campaigns tied to the new icon themes — e.g., a “Pick your icon” user-generated contest, creative filters that match “cosmic” or “slime” styles, or influencer challenges where teens show their themed home-screens. Because teens can now customise their icon, you can use this as a hook for interaction.
Monitor Aesthetic Shifts
Keep an eye on how aesthetic preferences evolve. If a theme becomes popular (#cosmicIGicon), jump on it fast. Create content or assets that tie into the visual trends teen users are embracing. Personalisation options like this may trigger small viral loops.
Strategy: What to Do This Week
- Audit your teen-facing content: If you have a profile targeting teens, check whether your visuals feel fresh and aligned with youth aesthetics rather than adult brand style.
- Produce one themed asset: Develop a Reel or story that uses the “chrome”, “cosmic”, or “slime” theme — reference the new icon set by showing a teen-friendly home-screen animation.
- Segment your testing: Use a secondary account targeting younger users; test a bold visual style vs a standard one, compare engagement metrics over 7 days.
- Collaborate with teen influencers: Invite creators to showcase their custom icons + favourite content themes; tie this into brand partnerships.
- Track icon-theme mentions: Monitor hashtags or mentions linked to icon styles (e.g., #IGIconCosmic) and see if you can ride or initiate a micro-trend.
Potential Risks & Considerations
- Over-personalisation fatigue: Some users may view icon options as gimmicks if over-used without supporting feature improvements.
- Alienating older users: While focusing on teen style, brands must avoid ignoring or losing older-audience followers who may feel left out.
- Aesthetic-only updates may disappoint: Without deeper functional upgrades, this visual change could be dismissed as superficial — make sure your strategy builds on visuals and value.
- Teen migration risk: If teens sense that an app is trying too hard to retain them, they may label it “uncool” and migrate to emergent platforms. Balancing is key.
Final Thoughts
The icon update for teen users on Instagram might seem small in the grand scheme, but it’s a purposeful move: one that blends personalisation, youth identity, retention strategy and visual culture. For creators and brands, it’s a reminder that younger audiences care about style, customisation, and expressiveness — away from broad brand-centric design.
If you’re targeting teens, now’s a great time to lean into visuals, test new styles, and build a brand aesthetic that mirrors the freedom Instagram is offering. And if you’re managing multiple profiles or audience segments, using a multi-account setup allows you to test teen-centric strategies without risking your main brand identity.
Go ahead: pick a bold visual theme, experiment this week, and watch whether your engagement shifts. Because on Instagram, style isn’t just what you see—it’s how your audience settles in.
