Instagram Reveals "teenager-friendly" Safety Features

(RTTNews) - Instagram on Tuesday revealed many features, which will make it difficult for users, particularly teenagers, to spend an unhealthy amount of time on the social media platform. This rollout comes just a day before Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, will face the American Congress's questions over the app's child-safety features.

The company revealed its "Take a Break" feature, which gives users the freedom to spend some time away from the app. The feature was announced in September and will first be available to users in the US, UK, Canada and Australia and to the other users following that.

In the new feature, users can select for how long they want to be notified after using the app. A time gap of 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes is offered and users will get an alert asking them to close off the app and go do something else. The social media platform also said that they would take a hard look at the content that is being recommended to teenagers and would make efforts to redirect them to different topics, if they are stuck on any one topic for too long. Insiders reveal that topics like travel destinations, architecture and nature photography will be used to divert attention and this feature will debut next year. In addition to features, which let users know how much time they want to spend on Instagram each day, the app is also testing ways for users to manage their activity all in one place by making way for bulk deletion of photos, videos and comments. The company said it is also testing a new way for people to manage their Instagram activity in one place, allowing them to bulk delete photos and videos they've posted, and previous likes and comments. Commenting on the move, Adam Mosseri, said, "While available to everyone, I think this tool is particularly important for teens to more fully understand what information they've shared on Instagram, what is visible to others, and to have an easier way to manage their digital footprint."

Instagram is also working with parents to set up an educational hub of mental health experts to help them talk about social media use with their teens, and also monitor the time spent by their teens on social media and how to set time limits.