Meta is releasing new features to help teens limit their time on social media. After 10 pm, teen users will receive nudges to turn the app off. While they cannot turn these notifications off, they can still ignore them.
iPhones and Androids already have built in features to limit usage of apps. When on the same family group, parents can allocate a certain amount of time per day to an application, or limit hours. Tech Crunch reports:
Instagram is introducing new nighttime nudges for teen accounts to limit their time on the app, the company announced on Thursday. The new nighttime nudges will appear when teens have spent more than 10 minutes on Instagram in places like Reels or DMs late at night. The notice will remind teens that it’s late and encourage them to close the app and go to sleep.
Teens will start to see a notice that says “Time for a break?” followed by the message “It’s getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night.” The social network told TechCrunch in an email that the nudges will appear after 10 p.m. The nighttime nudges will be shown automatically and can’t be turned off, which means teens can’t opt in or out of seeing them. Of course, teens have the option to simply dismiss the nudge and continue using the app.
Other than the “nudge” feature, Meta is also working on blocking content related to self-harm and eating disorders. Social media has been shown to lead to self-esteem problems among teenagers, especially young girls. Popular Science says:
Meta’s “nighttime nudges” are the latest in a string of recently introduced oversight features aimed specifically at addressing longrunning criticisms regarding social media’s harmful psychological effects on users—particularly younger audiences. Last week, the company announced impending plans to enforce new, mandatory Instagram and Facebook content restrictions for teens and minors. Established “in line with expert guidance,” the new guidelines will institute new privacy safeguards meant to block content related to self-harm, graphic violence, and eating disorders. A staggered rollout of Instagram’s and Facebook’s respective “Sensitive Content Controls” and “Reduce” features is expected to finish “in the coming months,” according to Meta’s January 9 update.
Before that, Meta instituted a suite of parental supervision tools in the latter half of 2023, including the ability to see their children’s time spent on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram, an option to schedule breaks, and access to teens’ blocked contacts list. Last December, Meta also finally made good on its years’ long promise to establish default end-to-end encryption protocols for its over one billion global Messenger and Facebook users.
Meta is moving ahead with these features to have some control over likely regulations of the industry. TikTok has also taken the step to limit addictive “scrolling”, but the government could still try to regulate social media consumption.
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