Instagram is done playing hard to get

Meta’s sluggish growth will see the tech giant dial back on mindfulness and up its minimum ‘daily time limit.

Mindless scrolling is a habit many of us are trying to curb. So when Instagram introduced user-defined time-limits on your daily dose of the grid, it was a welcome move. The only problem is it didn’t work.

All eyes on ads

Apps like Instagram do everything in their power to keep users coming back for that sweet social nectar. But facing growing criticism over its addictive tendencies, Instagram started offering users a friendly nudge to remind them to put the phone down – a welcome move. The only problem? It hits the platform’s ad-based revenue.

So, when the chips are down – and with Q4 wiping 20% off Meta’s value, they are down – Zucks et al. will have had little qualm rolling back on its mindfulness drive.

What has actually changed?

Initially, Instagram allowed users to set their daily limits as low as 10 minutes, with a notification popping up and encouraging more mindful usage. But in a recent update, users are restricted to at least 30 minutes. While those who currently have their limit set to 10 can keep it for now, Insta is already rolling out the app update and dialling up those minutes.

It seems that from now on, a little more willpower might be needed if you’re trying to spend less time scrolling. Insta is getting needy again.