Instagram Starts Test on Take A Break Feature

Instagram, the popular photo and video-sharing social networking service, and a one-time nominee for Teen Choice Award for Choice Social Network has recently been made public by its Head Adam Mosseri to commence testing a new feature “Take A Break” on its platform. Take A Break Feature is targeted at users, mostly teenagers who in recent times have complained of excessive addiction to the app.

The Take A Break Feature added by Adam Mosseri is “part of a broader effort to try and give people more control over their experience of Instagram,”. “Ultimately, you know what’s best for you when it comes to how you use the app. And we want to make sure we provide tools for you to shape Instagram into what works for you.”

This Instagram feature is an opt-in feature, that encourages a user to take a break from Instagram after spending a certain amount of time on the app say 10, 20, or 30 minutes.

Adam Mosseri in an uploaded video gave a glimpse into the feature showing a prompt that will display in users’ feeds but won’t take over the entire screen. This means, If they choose “turn on,” they’ll then be prompted to choose what length of time they want to spend on the app before they receive the reminder notification. The reminder will then pop up with a list of suggestions like: “Take a few deep breaths, write down what you’re thinking, listen to your favorite song, do something on your to-do list.”

• 

Instagram worked with third-party experts for advice to develop the “Take a Break” feature. If the feature testing goes smooth, the company plans to launch it sometime in December and will be available to all users in a few months.

This feature will help curb the recent series of negative impacts like mental health, suicide and self-harm, body shaming, and false self-presentation the app is presumed to cause on individuals.