Instagram has rolled out a new feature called “Take A Break” to encourage teens to take breaks from the site. The tool has now launched in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and will reach the rest of the world in early 2022.
Young users will see notifications about the feature and will be prompted to set reminders to take breaks in the future. This is one of the changes Facebook is making in response to backlash about not doing enough to stop harmful content on its platforms.
There will be other tools as well to help protect teenage users from potentially harmful content on the photo-sharing platform. Early next year they’ll be adding the first tools for parents, which will allow them to see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and to set time limits.
The social media site is also working on features that will stop people from tagging teens that don’t follow them and says it will be stricter about which posts, hashtags and accounts it recommends to try to rein in potentially harmful or sensitive content.
I'm really glad Instagram is taking these initiatives because sometimes even adults need reminders to take a break!