Check on your doom-scrolling behaviour on Instagram. The platform’s head Adam Mosseri has said that the Meta-owned app is testing a new feature called Take A Break, which will remind users to, well, take a break after either 10, 20 or 30 minutes, depending on their preferences. It will be an opt-in feature, meaning users have to motivate themselves to set up the control.

“Ultimately, you know what’s best for you when it comes to how you use the app. And we want to make sure we provide tools for you to shape Instagram into what works for you,” Mosseri has said.

The company’s vice-president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said on CNN last month that it was working on the Take a Break feature besides similar features, keeping teenagers in mind. “We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenagers is looking at the same content over and over again, and it’s content which may not be conducive to their well being, we will nudge them to look at other content,” Clegg said.

Interestingly, the feature appears when there is intense scrutiny on Instagram and its parent company Meta (formerly Facebook) after whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress about the company’s internal research that showed Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of young people. The Wall Street Journal recently got access to in-depth studies that paint a dark picture of the detrimental effects Instagram has on its younger users, particularly teenage girls.