Instagram has announced it will be beginning to test out a new feature called “Take a Break” (and no, unfortunately it’s not to have a KitKat).
The main focus of “Take a Break,” as you might have guessed already, will be to try to get users to spend less time on social media by “taking a break” from screen time every now and then.
This move is surprisingly unlike Instagram, at least judging from what it has been doing thus far—namely drawing us further and further into the inescapable vortex of doomscrolling endlessly down the social media platform until we lose track of time and reality.
What “Take a Break” will do is offer users notifications on a regular basis, asking them to pull back and take a break from the platform if they need to. They will not be forced on users, of course, but are available if you choose to opt in from Instagram’s updated Settings in the future.
Testing “Take a Break”
We started testing a new feature called “Take a Break” this week. This opt-in control enables you to receive break reminders in-app after a duration of your choosing.
I’m excited to dig into the results & hopefully launch this sometime in December. pic.twitter.com/WdSTjL6ZdH
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) November 10, 2021
These notifications will cover your whole screen, and will need to be clicked away—not just a momentary banner that’s all too easy to ignore.
They will feature little suggestions to draw you out of the mental vacuum that Instagram can create, encouraging you to “take a moment to reset by closing Instagram,” or to “take a few deep breaths, write down what you’re thinking, listen to your favorite song, do something on your to-do list.”
“Take a Break” is currently being tested on 1–2% of Instagram’s total user base, says Mosseri in the Twitter video posted Wednesday. If all goes well, it should be rolled out to all by next month.
Do you think Instagram’s upcoming “Take a Break” feature will work as intended, helping us take better care of ourselves and our time? Or do you think we will keep going on as before, as it can be all too easy to ignore such notifications, and even opt back out if they get too annoying? Do let us know in the comments!
