Instagram on Thursday announced a new feature called “silent mode,” which aims to help users focus and set boundaries with friends and followers.
When the option is enabled, all notifications will be paused and the activity status of the profile will change.
If someone sends you a direct message during this time, Instagram will automatically send an autoresponder notifying the sender that “silent mode” is on.
While the feature applies to all users, Instagram seems to be focused on teenagers.
Instagram is pitching it as a tool to help with studying and getting teens to turn on the feature “when they spend specific time on Instagram late at night.”
The tool will roll out to users in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and plans to add it to more countries in the future.
The news is the latest example of Instagram giving users more ways to manage their usage, following years of scrutiny over how much time people – and especially teens – spend on various social media apps and the damage this can pose to their lives. mental health.
“These updates are part of our ongoing work to ensure that people have experiences that work for them and that they have more control over the time they spend online and the types of content they view,” the company said in a blog post.
As part of this effort, the platform is also introducing features to give users more control over what appears in their Explore feed.
For example, you can now tag content with an “Not Interested” label to prevent something similar from appearing in the future.
Instagram is introducing an option to block words or lists of words, emojis or hashtags like #fitness or #recipes from being recommended in the Explore feed.
The platform is also updating its parental supervision tools.
When a teen updates a setting, parents can receive a notification so they can talk to the teen about the change.
Parents will also be able to see accounts that their children have blocked.
In a series of congressional hearings in 2021, executives at Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat faced tough questions from lawmakers about how their platforms can drive younger users to harmful content, harm mental health and body image (especially among teens). and lacked sufficient parental controls and safeguards to protect teens.
Social media companies have promised to make changes, and Instagram in particular has made many.
It has since introduced an educational hub, expert tips and articles on user safety, and launched a tool that allows parents to see how much time their children spend on Instagram and set time limits.
Another Instagram feature encouraged users to take a break from the app, such as suggesting they take a deep breath, write something, check a to-do list or listen to music, after a predetermined amount of time.
The company also said it’s taking a “harder approach” to the content it recommends to teens and actively encourages them around different topics like architecture and travel destinations if they’ve been thinking about any type of content for a long time.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
