Many individuals consider the sudden improvement in technology to be a bad thing, perhaps thanks to all of the AI uprising stories they’ve read or movies they’ve watched. However, many of them fail to consider all of the good technology and more specifically social media has and can do in our lives, and Instagram’s new feature proves just that.
If you’re a parent or have ever taken care of someone akin to a younger sibling, you’ll know how tough it is to get your child to sleep. Well, as they grow up to be teenagers, their sleeping habits become even worse and many teenagers become addicted to social media like Instagram. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has caught wind of this too.
To ensure teenagers don’t spend too much time using Instagram late at night, Instagram has come out with new content settings. Among these settings is an unavoidable prompt that will tell teenagers to close the app and go to sleep when using the mobile app late at night.
What is Instagram’s Nighttime Nudge System?
So many teenagers ruin their mental health and sleep schedule by aimlessly scrolling through reels the entire night. To combat this, Instagram has introduced the nighttime nudge system. Through it, every time a teen is using Instagram to watch reels for more than 10 minutes after the designated 10 PM period, they’ll get a pop-up message.
The pop-up message will read “Time for a break?” followed by the message “It's getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night.” Although the teens will be able to dismiss the prompt easily to continue using the app, they can’t turn these nudges off completely.
So, what does this do? Well, while many teens will simply dismiss the prompt and go back to using the app as they were previously, there are a select few who will realize that they’ve been using the app for too long and it might be a better idea to go to sleep. For teens navigating these changes, it’s also common to look for ways to gain more Instagram followers while still maintaining a healthy and balanced approach to engagement.
This Nighttime Nudge feature joins the growing collection of features designed to reduce the screen time of kids, including the “Take a Break” feature, which tells teens to take a short break when they’ve been using the app for too long. The ability to hide likes and views can also help the mentality of children.
What More Is Instagram Doing For Teens?
The Nighttime Nudge system isn’t the only thing Instagram is doing, as the social media platform is also cracking down on the amount of harmful content teens are exposed to on the app. The Instagram app’s settings now automatically limit teenagers' exposure to sensitive topics including self-harm, graphic violence, and disorders like eating disorders.
In addition to Instagram, several other social media platforms are being called out for not prioritizing the safety of kids and teenagers, and it seems these new features are Instagram’s way of showing that it cares for the well-being of children.
The platform is set to testify before the Senate on child safety on January 31 amidst regulatory pressure, and it remains to be seen what comes out of it for the gigantic social media platform.
Conclusion
This is everything new being added to Instagram for teenagers. Are you, or someone you know also an avid user of Instagram? Do let us know what your thoughts are on these changes and whether or not you think they’ll help teenagers in any way. Do you think all of these new features have made it so Instagram is no longer the photo-sharing app it once was?
