In a surprising report, Instagram is likely going to discontinue the app’s “time limit options” meant to encourage its users to “take a break”. In a screenshot sent by an Instagram user who had previously set a 10-minute daily limit, a popup appears at the top of their feed asking them to set a new daily limit value “in accordance with an app update”.
Currently, you’re still able to set a daily time limit for yourself on the app by going to Settings, Account, and then Your Activity. From there, you can also view your daily average time spent on Instagram in the last week, as well as a feature to help remind you when to take breaks. You can choose between five settings for the time limits—three hours, two hours, one hour, 45 minutes, or half an hour.
Previously the company even supported a user-defined limit for Instagram that could be as low as 5 minutes per day. This was when it was making a big PR push to suggest that a more ‘mindful’ usage of its services was possible, as concern over social media addiction surged. They also announced plans to introduce new measures to “nudge” teens away from harmful content.
According to the screenshots, the user had previously specified a 10-minute daily limit. However, they’re now suddenly being informed that the option is “no longer available”.
“My choice has gone away, and if I try and change it, my old minimum of 10 minutes triples to 30 minutes as the new minimum,” said the user.
When Instagram first introduced the feature, it was sold as a method that was meant to help users use the platform less—as there was evidence that proved using the social media platform was harmful to users’ mental health. Instagram’s internal research even revealed that there was a “higher percentage of negative impact for teen girls when accessing Instagram”.
Taking away the feature suddenly doesn’t seem like such a great idea, especially as they are trying to do this quietly. It just gives off more of the impression that Meta and its platforms don’t care about its users, but would rather care about making money.
[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]
