Instagram to introduce 'take a break' feature, nudge teens away from harmful content

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Instagram will introduce new measures to nudge teenagers away from harmful content and encourage them to "take a break" from the platform.

As per The Verge, Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg shared, "We're going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenager is looking at the same content over and over again, and it's content which may not be conducive to their well being, we will nudge them to look at other content."

He added that in addition to pausing plans for an Instagram Kids platform and giving parents optional controls to supervise teens, the company planned to introduce a feature "called 'take a break', where we will be prompting teens to just simply take a break from using Instagram."

Clegg didn't provide a timeline for either feature. In response to an email from The Verge seeking further details, a Facebook spokesperson said the features are "not testing yet but will soon."

Also read: Posting food pictures on social media platforms may make people crave more food: Study

The spokesperson pointed to a September 27 blog post by Instagram head Adam Mosseri which mentioned the company was "exploring" the features: "We announced last week that we're exploring two new ideas: encouraging people to look at other topics if they're dwelling on content that might contribute to negative social comparison, and a feature tentatively called "Take a Break," where people could put their account on pause and take a moment to consider whether the time they're spending is meaningful".

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.