We spend a lot of time with our technological devices.
So much so that folk behind Facebook and Instagram are now rolling out a new feature that is not only set out to show how much time you’ve spent on these apps, but will also give you an opportunity to set limits on the amount of time that you want to spend.
According to Refinery29, if you head to your Instagram profile and click on settings, you’ll be able to select the activity option which will show you a graph that tracks your time spent per week, although it delves down even further by showing you the amount you spend per day as well.
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What this new feature also does is give you the option of setting up an amount of time you spend on Instagram or Facebook and when that time is up, you’ll get a reminder that it’s time to log off.
To be fair, it is good to see that companies like Facebook are helping to address the fact that apps like these can get quite addictive.
I reached out to some folk on Twitter to find out just how much time they’re spending on social networks:
One user says that her social media habits continue to change and evolve and that how long she remains on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram is determined by the content she’s looking at and whether she finds it compelling and engaging:
In the old days, I was on non-stop. Now I'm only on Twitter non-stop during the week to remain sane. I only pop onto Instagram once or twice a day. I do go onto my newly created Facebook a little more, but probably between 4 to 8 times a day.
— ???????Juanita van Zyl??????? (@JuavanZyl) August 3, 2018
The time I stay on is determined by the posts and if I want to comment or not.
— ???????Juanita van Zyl??????? (@JuavanZyl) August 3, 2018
Another reader already came up with a strategy before this was introduced and says that she resorted to switching off her notifications and installing an app called HabitLab – an extension that has a variety of options for restricting the amount of time spent on different sites.
Used to be like that before i turned off notifications and installed HabitLab
— quantumfluctuations (@M_of_starlight) August 3, 2018
I think at the end of the day, it might be less about time spent on the app and more about how you use your time in app.
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