[KARAH]

INSTAGRAM IS TESTING A NEW FEATURE THAT’S ALLOWING USERS TO RESET THEIR ALGORITHM – SPECIFICALLY WITH THE SAFETY OF TEENS IN MIND.

A COMPANY BLOG POST TUESDAY SAYING “WE WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE ON INSTAGRAM — ESPECIALLY TEENS — HAS SAFE, POSITIVE, AGE-APPROPRIATE EXPERIENCES AND FEELS THE TIME THEY’RE SPENDING ON INSTAGRAM IS VALUABLE.” 

THIS COMES AS MULTIPLE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE HARMFUL EFFECTS SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HAVE ON TEENS …INCLUDING RESEARCH BY THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION THAT FOUND TEENS WHO SPEND MORE THAN THREE HOURS A DAY ON THOSE PLATFORMS, INCLUDING INSTAGRAM CAN DOUBLE THEIR RISK OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY.

EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE U-S SURGEON GENERAL CALLED ON CONGRESS TO REQUIRE WARNING LABELS ON SOCIAL MEDIA SIMILAR TO THOSE ON CIGARETTE PACKAGING.

INSTAGRAM SAYS THE NEW FEATURE WILL ALLOW USERS TO BE ABLE TO CLEAR THE RECOMMENDED CONTENT ACROSS THEIR EXPLORE, REELS AND FEED TABS WITH A MANUAL RESET. 

THEN THE APP WILL START SUGGESTING MORE PERSONALIZED TOPICS THAT MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT USERS USUALLY SEE. 

IT WILL THEN HELP YOU IMPROVE THE ALGORITHM RECOMMENDATIONS BY OFFERING AN “INTERESTED” AND “NOT INTERESTED” FEATURE. 

WHILE THE ALGORITHM RESET IS ONLY IN A TESTING PHASE NOW, INSTAGRAM PLANS TO ROLL IT OUT GLOBALLY.

IT’S NOT CLEAR EXACTLY WHEN THEY’LL DO IT.

FOR SAN – I’M KARAH RUCKER. 

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