Instagram to nudge teenagers away from harmful content

SAN FRANCISCO: Meta-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram said that teenage users on the platform will start to see nudges that will encourage them to switch to a different topic if they are repeatedly looking at the same type of content on Explore.

This nudge is designed to encourage teens to discover something new and excludes certain topics that may be associated with appearance comparison.

"We designed this new feature because research suggests that nudges can be effective for helping people -- especially teens -- be more mindful of how they are using social media in the moment," the company said in a blogpost.

In an external study on the effects of nudges on social media use, 58.2 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that nudges made their social media experience better by helping them become more mindful of their time on-platform.

"Our own research shows they are working too: during a one-week testing period, one in five teens who saw our new nudges switched to a different topic," the company said.

The company also mentioned that it is expanding parental supervision features on Instagram.

On Instagram, parents and guardians can now send invitations to their teens to initiate supervision tools. Initially, only teens could send invitations.

They can also set specific times during the day or week when they would like to limit their teen's use of Instagram.

Starting this month, these tools will begin rolling out to other countries, including the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany, with plans to roll out globally before the end of the year.