Meta is attempting to encourage Instagram’s younger users to put down their phones in favor of a solid night’s rest. According to a January 18 Meta blog post, the company will begin showing “new nighttime nudges” for 13-to-17-year-olds after they spend more than 10 minutes scrolling through Instagram sections such as Reels or Direct Messages sections “late at night.”
“Sleep is important, particularly for young people,” Meta states—which, fair enough.
A sample app screenshot provided in Meta’s newsroom post depicts a black screen asking “Time for a break?” alongside the ever-so-slightly passive aggressive “It’s getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night.”
[Related: Meta begins automatically restricting teen users to more ‘age-appropriate’ content.]
In an email provided to TechCrunch on Thursday, a Meta spokesperson confirmed Instagram will enable the new reminders after 10pm local time for some users. Technically, although teens can’t disable the feature, they can simply ignore the message to continue scrolling through their feeds through the wee hours of the morning.
Meta’s “nighttime nudges” are the latest in a string of recently introduced oversight features aimed specifically at addressing longrunning criticisms regarding social media’s harmful psychological effects on users—particularly younger audiences. Last week, the company announced impending plans to enforce new, mandatory Instagram and Facebook content restrictions for teens and minors. Established “in line with expert guidance,” the new guidelines will institute new privacy safeguards meant to block content related to self-harm, graphic violence, and eating disorders. A staggered rollout of Instagram’s and Facebook’s respective “Sensitive Content Controls” and “Reduce” features is expected to finish “in the coming…
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