Instagram is introducing a slew of new features aimed at giving users more control over the app, beginning with a new Quiet Mode. The tool works similarly to your phone’s Do Not Disturb setting. Instagram will not send notifications to your device while it is active. Your profile will also show that you’re “in quiet mode,” and anyone who messages you will receive an automatic response stating that you’re not available.
Quiet Mode can be set to activate automatically at certain times of day. Instagram will send you a summary of your notifications once you’re outside of those hours. Anyone can use Quiet Mode, but the company claims that if it notices teens spending a lot of time scrolling, it will prompt them to use it. Quiet Mode is available starting today in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Alongside the new mode, Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give people more control over the photos and videos they see on the platform. Specifically, you can now tell the app the types of content you don’t want to be recommended to you. Starting with the Explore tab, you can select multiple tiles and tap “Not Interested” to shape Instagram’s content algorithm. Doing so will also affect what you see when you search for posts. Additionally, in an expansion of a feature that was already available for comments and direct messages, you can list specific words, hashtags and emoji you want Instagram to filter for when recommending content. You can access that tool through the “Hidden Words” section of the app’s privacy settings. One limitation is that filters will only work when the app detects the words you listed in hashtags and captions. Lastly, Instagram notes it recently added a feature that allows parents to see their teen’s app settings.
The subject of inappropriate recommendations came up during Adam Mosseri’s congressional hearing in 2021. Members of the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security grilled the head of Instagram about the content they saw the app steer them toward after creating fresh Instagram accounts designed to impersonate teens. Specifically, Utah Senator Mike Lee said he saw the Explore page of his finsta account change dramatically after following a single account recommended by Instagram. According to Lee, the app began recommending posts promoting body dysmorphia, sexualization of women and other content inappropriate for teen girls. “It went dark fast,” he said.
Whether the changes Instagram is introducing today will sufficiently address the concerns raised by lawmakers is hard to say, as Instagram is putting the onus on teen users to filter their feeds instead of doing that work itself.
