Subj : 'Time for a break?' Instagram plays parent with new nighttime nud
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Fri Jan 19 2024 18:00:05

'Time for a break?' Instagram plays parent with new nighttime nudge feature

Date:
Fri, 19 Jan 2024 17:50:03 +0000

Description:
Designed to encourage healthier social media habits, the notification will 
'nudge' teens to close Instagram after prolonged late night use.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

Instagram has introduced its latest attempt to encourage safe social media 
use among young people. New late-night notifications will warn teens they're 
scrolling when they should be sleeping, in a feature that mimics the effect 
of a parent knocking at the door and telling you to put the phone away . 

Meta, owner of Instagram, announced these 'nighttime nudges' in a blog post 
on Thursday, stating that this setting is intended to: "remind teens that its 
late, and encourage them to close the app." This follows the introduction of 
restrictions to inappropriate content earlier this month. 

A 'nighttime nudge' will pop-up when underage users have spent more than 10 
minutes engaging with interactive features such as Reels or Direct Messages 
'late at night' (no information given as to the time at which these nudges 
might kick in). According to a mockup from Meta, teens will find their 
content blocked by a full-screen notification reading: "Time for a break? 
It's getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night." How the 
'nighttime nudge' might appear on the Instagram UI (Image credit: Meta) 

Soon to be rolled out for all accounts registered to underage users, the 
'nighttime nudge' is notable for being non-optional. Current Instagram screen 
time settings (such as Daily Limits) require user activation. Rival social 
media site TikTok, which introduced optional sleep reminders last year, also 
requires screen time limits to be set up. 

Of course, teens have the ability to simply dismiss the nighttime nudge and 
carry on with their scrolling, should they wish. Instagram won't lock down 
its content, no matter how long a user might have spent on the app. 
Presumably, it's hoping the notification will be irritating enough to 
motivate app closure. But seeing as many of today's teens have grown to 
expect annoying notifications from a range of social media sites, the 
effectiveness of this warning is debatable. 

Currently, the setting is only mandatory for teens. Bad news for adult 
doomscrollers with a lack of self-control  but if you're really trying to 
kick the habit, you can add your own nighttime nudges by heading to the 
setting menu and activating a break reminder. Although, again, you can just 
turn the notification off, curl up on your best mattress , and go back to 
your 3am GRWM binge. Which is probably what many teens will do when faced 
with an unwanted 'nighttime nudge'. Read more: I swapped doomscrolling for 
reading before bed and I regret to inform you it did improve my sleep



======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/mattresses/time-for-a-break-instagram
-plays-parent-with-new-nighttime-nudge-feature


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
 * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)

.