Instagram launches anti-addiction tool after criticism

Plunged in controversy since the leak of internal documents by a former employee, Instagram launched last week a tool that aims to help users who believe they are abusing the social network: Make a Pause.

The new service is available in the “Your activity” tab in the app’s side menu. User can schedule reminders to take breaks every 10, 20 or 30 minutes.

The release comes after documents show the group was aware that Instagram is potentially harmful to the mental health of teenage girls, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal.

“All these resources that aim at the conscious use of technology are valid”, says psychologist and professor at UFRJ Anna Lucia Spear King, one of those responsible for Delete, the university’s digital detox center.

The psychologist differentiates between abusive use and disorder. “Everyone, just because they use a technology for many hours, thinks they are addicted, but people are actually rude to use it,” she says.

At the core, those interested receive some instructions to have a healthier relationship with the cell phone: reduce daily use, respect mealtimes and turn off one hour before bed are some of them.

These are measures known to a large part of the population, who face difficulties in putting them into practice.

“Social networks act like a game in our brain”, says the psychologist. “This game releases dopamine, endorphin and serotonin, chemicals that give pleasure. That’s why we want to access it again.”

Users often don’t know why they can’t stop the habit. “People just know that they have to go back to it to feel good,” she says.

In the impossibility of changing this reality, it is necessary to try to educate yourself, says King.

For the coordinator of media and democracy at the Institute of Technology and Society Karina Santos, it is necessary to “think about social network designs that empower users”.

The set of command codes that form the gear of the platforms, known generically as “algorithm”, works from the analysis of the behavior of the users and has as one of its objectives to attract the maximum attention of those who are online, so that the person so stay.

Giving the user the power of choice has the potential to make people aware of how social networks work. Santos envisions a healthier social network if the user can decide what information is of interest to them and how it will be presented.

Educational measures such as the launch of the new tool “are an important step”, she said, but it is important to observe the implementation of the service and test whether the tool’s design is effective in stimulating a pause.

Tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been under public scrutiny since former employee Frances Haugen handed over internal company documents to the press, which became known as the Facebook Papers.

According to one of the reports based on these documents, the social network would have been told that Instagram worsened the image issues of 1 in 3 girls. Teenagers also blamed Instagram for anxiety and depression issues.

When questioned, Meta says it “does this kind of research to ask tough questions” and find out how to “improve people’s experience.” “So, research like this serves to inform, for example, the work we do related to issues like negative body image.”

Take a Pause would have been developed as part of a commitment to “positive and meaningful” experiences on the social network. “We continue to explore new ideas, such as encouraging people to look at other topics if they’ve been browsing the same topic for a while,” said a spokesperson for Meta.

In testimony before the US Congress in October of last year, Haugen called for the company to be regulated.

To make money from advertising, Haugen said, the social network must make its members stay on the platform as long as possible, and hateful content engages more, she said.

“I believe that Facebook’s products harm children, deepen division and weaken our democracy,” he said at the time. “The company intentionally hides critical information from users, the US government and governments around the world.”