Oh, lordy. We knew this was going to happen. Social media is slowly draining our life battery and now we can find out exactly how much. Both Facebook and Instagram have made it possible for us to find out exactly how much time we spend on the apps.
If you want to find this metaphorical nuclear button, here’s what you do. For Instagram, go to your Profile, select Settings, and tap Your Activity. And then close your eyes and squeeze something tight, preferably your knees while softly rocking back and forth in a dark corner. Because here you will have access to a bar graph that breaks down the average amount of time you spent on the app per day (or week, if you want to ease into this mess).
https://giphy.com/gifs/reaction-5tPK911wg0egE
Now, if you are not happy with that number, you have the option to Set A Daily Reminder and Notification Settings to help you manage your time on social media. Daily Reminders allow you to choose how much time you want to spend on Instagram each day, while Notification Settings allow you to “mute” notifications for up to eight hours.
-
Related Story: Does Instagram Reveal Who’s Stalking Your Profile?
The same goes for Facebook. To find out how much time you waste on the FacePlace (as moms like to call it), go to your Settings, and tap Your Time On Facebook.
It’s been documented that having access to social media can be beneficial to your health — keeping up with friends, seeing dog and baby photos, etc. —but when you start using the apps for evil, like stalking your ex or and just generally giving yourself a sense of 24/7 FOMO, things start to take a hard left. These new features will hopefully reduce the stress associated with this type of participatin. But let’s be real, they probably won’t.
