Although Facebook has denied that Instagram content is harmful to younger users, this Sunday, the company’s vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, announced that Instagram will introduce new measures to steer teens away from harmful content and encourage them to “take a break” from using the app, to prevent them from spending excessive time on it.
Clegg made the remarks on CNN’s State of the Union program less than a week after former employee and now whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before the US Congress about an internal investigation showing that Instagram may have a negative effect on the mental health of young people, especially adolescent girls.
“We are going to present something that I think will make a considerable difference… When our systems detect that a teenager is looking at the same content over and over again, and if it is content that may not be conducive to their well-being, we will ‘nudge’ them to look at something elseClegg said.
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The manager added that the company also plans to introduce a feature for now called “take a break,” in which Teens will be encouraged to step away from the platform for a while after they have been surfing the platform for some time; This way, they could put their account on hold and take a moment to consider whether the time they spend on it is significant.
It is clear that, Faced with the wave of criticism that Facebook has had in recent times, these new options are intended to reduce possible addiction and other unhealthy behaviors, such as the consumption of content that affects mental well-being.
There was no release date for these features, but they are expected to begin testing in select regions soon, ahead of a global announcement.