Hyderabad: Self-policing in the form of reminding the user of the time spent on the site is a feature that social media platforms are gradually rolling out. Youtube introduced the feature of setting reminders, followed by Instagram, and, recently, Facebook.
Developer Jane Manchun Wong first spotted that Facebook and Instagram were working on feature ‘Your time on Facebook’. While Facebook is yet to deploy the feature, YouTube rolled out the feature ‘Take a break’ in the settings, to prompt the viewer to stop watching after some time.
This is different in Facebook, which provides information about the average time spent on the site.The Centre for Humane Technology said, “Companies like Apple, Facebook and Microsoft can redesign their devices and core interfaces to protect our minds from constant distractions, minimise screen time, protect our time in relationships, and replace the App Store marketplace of apps competing for usage with a marketplace of tools competing to benefit our lives and society.”
Many researches have shown that companies, in their race to keep people hooked onto the screen, make it difficult for people to disconnect thereby increasing stress, and reducing sleep. Keeping people hooked to screens is not their business model but earning revenue through proper interaction.
On the negative side, there are fears that people may start showing off the time spent on Facebook as a status symbol, similar to binge watching on Netflix.
Dr P. Jyoti Raj, a psychologist, said: “These reminders help in self-realisation and allow people to control their lives. It may not work for people who are too much into it as they might show off the hours they spent on Instagram. Instagram is popular with the youth and it is possible that the facility can be misutilised.”
