Instagram has stealthily tripled the minimum configurable value for its ‘Set daily time limit’ mindfulness feature, which sends a notification to the user once their app activity for the day reaches their preferred limit, from 10 minutes to 30 minutes — reports TechCrunch.
Instagram introduced the daily time limit feature amidst parent company Meta’s big PR push for more mindful, responsible usage of its apps. At the time, users could set daily limits that were as low as 15 or even 10 minutes.
However, the popular social media platform appears to have nerfed the feature, now only allowing users to set a minimum daily time limit of 30 minutes. Users who had previously set daily limits lower than 30 minutes will be able to keep them, as long as they’re willing to ignore a couple of User Interface nudges from Instagram to update it.
The move might be an attempt from Meta to increase app usage and revenues after the social media giant’s disappointing Q4 2021 results, which saw flat quarter-over-quarter usage statistics for Facebook and negligible growth for its other apps, including Instagram. Meta’s Q4 results wiped 20% off the company’s market valuation as soon as they were publicized.
The Instagram user who alerted TechCrunch to the updated settings likened the change to “a tobacco company saying you can limit your packs a day, as it takes away smaller packs.”
Instagram found itself in hot water last year after internal research indicating the platform was “toxic” to teenagers was made public in a Wall Street Journal report.
Since then, Meta has pushed back against the claims and updated Instagram with a new selection of wellness features designed specifically for teen users.
