Instagram Will “Nudge” You To Take A Break From The App

With the issue of Instagram’s effect on teens gaining traction, Instagram is planning to nudge users and ask them to take a break. Facebook’s Vice President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, announced the upcoming features in conversation with CNN’s Dana Bash.

Clegg said that Instagram is “going to introduce new controls for adults and teens.” These features will be optional so that “adults can supervise what the teens are doing online.” Clegg also highlighted that Facebook thinks that Instagram for Kids is a solution to the problem but has paused the program to consult experts.

Instagram’s “Take A Break” Feature

In a conversation with Dana Bash from CNN, Facebook’s VP of Global Affairs announced two new features for Instagram. Both of these features are yet to be tested, so it might be a while before they make it to the app.

The first feature is “nudge.” Here’s how Nick Clegg explained how the feature would work. “[When Instagram’s] systems see that a teen is looking at the same content over and over again and it is content which may not be conducive to their well-being, we will nudge them to look at other content.”

The “Take a break” feature will pretty much do what the name suggests. Clegg didn’t go into the details of when the feature will ask teens to take a break from Instagram. There’s also the question of whether this will be a suggestion to take a break or an imposition to take one. Anyway, both the “nudge” and “take a break” are yet to be tested by Instagram.

With the new optional parental oversight, nudge, and take a break, Instagram will likely be a better place for teens. However, Dana Bash pointed out that the internal survey was published two years ago. It means Facebook and Instagram have been aware of the issue for two years now. But the company is adding these features only after a whistleblower leaked the survey to the press.

While Facebook has taken other measures in the meantime, they were nowhere close to this. Now, Instagram is planning to actively tell its users to take a break from the app. After Twitter’s potential fight prompts, Instagram might be the second mainstream social media site to engage in user well-being.