Meta said the new nighttime nudge feature will remind teens that it’s late when using the app after 10pm.
Instagram is introducing what it calls ‘nighttime nudges’ for teenage users to encourage them to close the app at night.
Parent company Meta announced in an update yesterday (18 January) that the nighttime nudges will show up when teens have spent more than 10 minutes on Instagram “in places like Reels or direct messages” late at night.
While the Meta update made no mention of time, the company told TechCrunch in an email that the nudges will be shown automatically after 10pm and can’t be turned off, meaning that teens using the app cannot opt out of the feature.
“Sleep is important, particularly for young people,” Meta wrote in its update. “[Nighttime nudges] will remind teens that it’s late, and encourage them to close the app.”
Instagram has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent some of the alleged damage the platform causes to younger users, such as exposure to interactions with strangers raising safety concerns as well as the time-consuming nature of the app.
In 2021, more than 250 international academics signed an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing concern that the company’s internal research on potential harms to adolescents caused by its platforms is poorly designed and too secretive.
The group urged the Facebook-owner to take three concrete steps to support the mental health of young people: greater transparency on internal research, contribution to global independent research and establishing an independent oversight trust on Meta platforms.
“We have been following news reports about research within your companies on the mental health of child and adolescent users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Unfortunately, that research is happening behind closed doors and without independent oversight,” the letter read.
They argued that Instagram’s internal research does not “meet the high scientific standards required” and urged the company to accept independent oversight. “Sound science must come before firm conclusions are drawn or new tools are launched,” it went on.
Soon after, Instagram introduced new tools and features including updated privacy rules and tools for parents and a ‘Take a Break’ feature. “It’s important to me that people feel good about the time they spend on Instagram,” head Adam Mosseri said at the time.
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