Instagram Launches Feature Alerting You When To Take A Mental Health Break From App
Posted: Wednesday, December 8th, 2021
Instagram is launching a new feature to UK users this week that aims to protect your mental health and provide alerts on excessive screen-time that encourages you to stop scrolling, and get back to the things that matter. The new ‘Take A Break’ feature has been released in response to the damning testimony of former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, who leaked documents and studies conducted by the company that revealed they were aware of the damage on mental health and body image that Instagram can have on young users, but chose to do nothing about it Users can turn on the ‘Take A Break’ feature in “Settings” and select if they want to be alerted after using the platform for 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes. They’ll then get a full-screen alert telling them to close out of the app, suggesting they take a deep breath, write something down, check a to-do list or listen to a song. After the prompt encourages a break, it is then up the user to have the self-control to resist hitting the big “done” at the bottom of the message to return to the app. In a statement on the new feature, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said “While available to everyone, I think this tool is particularly important for teens to more fully understand what information they’ve shared on Instagram, what is visible to others, and to have an easier way to manage their digital footprint.” The new feature will also be made available in Australia, Canada and The United States. (H/T 7News)
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