Instagram on Thursday announced a new feature called "quiet mode," which aims to help users take a break from the app and set their boundaries.
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If you have this option enabled, all notifications will be suspended and your Instagram account activity status will be updated to “quiet mode.” If someone sends you a direct message during this period, Instagram will immediately send an automatic reply informing them that “quiet mode” has been activated.
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While the feature is available to all users, Instagram seems to be focusing on teens and encouraging them to enable it if they spend a lot of time late at night browsing the app. However, positive effects will be available to all users! It's a great tool that can help with studying and setting boundaries in general.
Initially, the tool will be available in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with plans to expand to other countries.
The new tool will help users better manage the time they spend on the app, as concerns have been raised in recent years about the time people spend on social media and its negative effects on mental health – especially for teenagers.
To empower users and give them more control over their Explore feed experience, Instagram has launched several new features. For example, you can now mark content with the “Not Interested” label to avoid seeing similar items in the future. Additionally, there’s the ability to block words or lists of words (e.g. #fitness), emojis, or hashtags (e.g. #recipes) from being recommended on the platform’s Explore page at any time!
Instagram is also updating its parental control tools. When a teen updates a setting, parents can receive a notification so they can talk to the teen about the change. Parents will also be able to see accounts the teen has blocked.
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To encourage users to take a break from the app, Instagram recently launched a feature that suggests activities like deep breathing exercises, idea writing, and more. In addition to that, they are now taking a stricter approach to content recommended for teens, actively nudging them towards different topics, like architecture and travel destinations, if they've been viewing the same content for too long.
Source of information: edition.cnn.com
