Instagram’s daily active users reach a whopping 2 billion people a month and it’s no surprise that Meta is rolling out an update to encourage people to use less of the app. While it may seem counterintuitive for the company to reduce app usage, this is part of their effort to make the popular social media platform less detrimental to its users.
In the new update, the Quiet Mode feature will give “nightime nudges” on Instagram Reels or on Direct messages when the app detects that it’s been active for ten minutes late at night. On their most recent blogpost under “Giving Teens and Parents More Ways to Manage Their Time on Our Apps” dated June 27, 2023, the post says:
Update on January 18, 2024 at 3:00AM PT:
Sleep is important, particularly for young people, so we’re launching new nighttime nudges that will show up when teens have spent more than 10 minutes on Instagram in places like Reels or Direct Messages late at night. They’ll remind teens that it’s late, and encourage them to close the app.
Most phones have built-in health and wellness features to reduce screen time and app usage. But this does not guarantee teens are putting their phones down. In a literature review done by Neza Stiglic and Russell M Viner, they found out that higher screen times are associated with obesity and depressive symptoms.
Not just for kids
The company also has made Quiet Mode available to adults. Meta’s approach to focusing on providing better experiences for its younger users also extends to adults. The feature turns on automatically for app users below an age threshold. For adults engaged in activities like driving or working, Quiet Mode shuts off all notifications. It also sends an automated reply in the Direct Messages.
If a person is in Quiet Mode, other users will be able to see it. The feature changes the activity status to let other users know that the person isn’t actively on Instagram. The feature may affect content creators’ ability to engage with their followers. However, users can turn off Quite Mode anytime in the app.
Instagram also packaged another feature with the recent update. Users can filter out certain topics or emojis to ensure a more streamlined app content experience.
In addition to the rollout, Instagram also updated Parental Controls, allowing parents to monitor the app usage of children. This update lets parents access account settings, including privacy settings. Parents will then be notified of any changes or updates that have been made by the user.