Facebook and Instagram, the most popular social platforms have announced that they want to help the users have a control on the time they have spent on the apps including tools that set daily limits.
In a statement, the social media players introduced “new tools” which would help the users in managing the time that they spent on these two platforms.
The newly invented features will be known as ‘Your time on Facebook’ and ‘Your activity on Instagram’. Among the tools are a way to restrict notifications, and a dashboard that enables users to keep a track of the time they have spent on these platforms.
“We want the time people spend on Instagram and Facebook to be intentional, positive and inspiring,” the statement said. “Our hope is that these tools give people more control over the time they spend on our platforms and also foster conversations between parents and teens about the online habits that are right for them,” it added.
The company stated that it was bringing in a daily reminder, in which the users are alerted when they hit the time limit they had set for themselves to spend on the platform. Along with this, the users can also deactivate notifications on their smartphones.
In the recent times, Facebook has come up with a series of modifications to its content, including a major plan earlier this year to update its newsfeed to emphasize posts from friends and family. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook announced these changes in 2017, as his firm was liable to respond to the accusations that it encouraged addiction to its platform.
Zuckerberg said, “In 2018, we’re focused on making sure Facebook isn’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being and for society.”
Since the changes were launched, viral videos witnessed a considerable fall in reach. The plan, in turn, had a 5 percent drop in time spent on Facebook in the last quarter of 2017.