Facebook announced today the launch of a series of new features for the social network, including Instagram, aimed at helping people use both less. We are talking about functions that show us how much time we spend using Facebook and Instagram daily, they were created in partnership with a variety of mental health experts, and not only.
Facebook and Instagram will allow access to these new functions through special sections that are available in both applications, they are very helpful. In the press release below you can see the full explanation from Facebook about the important functions that both applications have available, and you can see what you can use.
Facebook and Instagram Help you Use them LESS
"New Facebook tools for controlling the time spent on its networks
Facebook is announcing the launch of a set of tools for Facebook and Instagram designed to help users manage the time they spend on these two platforms: a dashboard, a daily reminder and a new way to limit notifications. The new options, which will be available soon, were created based on collaboration with academics, renowned experts and organizations specializing in mental health, extensive research conducted by the social network and feedback received from its community.
Facebook developed the new tools out of a desire to ensure that the time users spend in its apps is the result of a decision, and that it provides them with inspiration and a positive experience. With these new options, Facebook's goal is to give users more control over the time they spend on its platforms. It also aims for these tools to encourage conversations between parents and teens about online habits that are right for them.
The process of creating these tools involved renowned experts and scientists such as Robert Kraut (Carnegie Mellon), Sonja Lyubomirsky (UC Riverside), Dacher Keltner, Emiliana Simon-Thomas and Matt Killingsworth (Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley ). Facebook has also developed partnerships with clinicians and mental health organizations such as Save.org and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
To access the new tools, visit the settings page in each application. On Instagram select "Your Activity" and on Facebook, the "Your Time on Facebook" option. At the top, you'll see a dashboard that shows you the average time spent using the app on that device. Press any bar to see the total time recorded for the current day. Under the dashboard, you can set a daily reminder to send you an alert when you've reached the amount of time you've decided to spend on the app that day. You can change or cancel the reminder at any time. You can also select “Notification Settings” to quickly access the new “Mute Push Notifications” setting. This will limit your Instagram or Facebook notifications for a period of time when you need to be undisturbed.
Facebook believes it is responsible for helping users become aware of how much time they spend on its platforms, so they can better manage their experience. Another step in this direction was in December 2017, when the platform shared views related to its team's priority to create experiences that help people connect and build relationships.
Additional tools
While there's still a lot to do, over the past year Facebook has introduced a number of tools to help users better control their social media experience. On Facebook, news feeds have been improved to show the most relevant posts with features like See First, Hide, Unfollow and Keyword Snooze. Instagram has launched powerful tools to proactively cultivate community – such as the "You're All Caught Up" message in Feed, keyword filtering, sensitive content, and filters for offending and offensive comments.
Facebook also has a global, ongoing commitment to suicide prevention, which includes expanding proactive detection and improving first responder identification. These facilities have been developed in collaboration with mental health organizations such as Save.org and with input from people who have had personal experience of suicidal ideation or even attempted suicide.
Community activity
In March, Facebook Safety Summit brought together over 100 organisations, researchers, experts and teenagers to talk about a wide range of topics – from safety and technology to how technology affects our wellbeing. Facebook has also partnered with Scholastic and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to develop and launch the "Best Selves" social and emotional learning curriculum, designed to provide teachers with easy-to-use lessons that help students develop pro-social behaviors. Plaftorma worked with Stand for Children, Making Caring Common (Harvard) and other experts to develop the "kindness" curriculum and launch the Kind Schools Challenge, which enrolls middle schools in teaching this 30-day course.
It's not just about the time users spend on Facebook and Instagram, but also the quality of that time. Facebook takes seriously its responsibility to talk openly about how time spent online affects people. These new tools are an important first step in this direction. The company will continue to dedicate its efforts to the safety of communities that provide everyone with an environment that promotes kindness and support."
