It is no secret that a vast majority of the globe is addicted to social media and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Social media has worked wonders for all of us – it has given a voice to the voiceless, it has democratised conversation and helped us connect with people who we would, perhaps, never have met.

However, there is the terrifying reality that social media is also terrible for your mental health. According to a report by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) in 2017, Instagram was the worst app when it came to the youth’s mental health. It was closely followed by Snapchat. These apps tend to distort reality and can lead to depression, body dysmorphia and anxiety.

Now, Instagram has rolled out a feature that will allow users to better manage their time (read ‘activity’) on the app. The ‘Your Activity’ dashboard has a set of tools that allow one to view the time they’ve spent on the app and set limits on their daily interaction with the same. They will also be able to silence those pestering notifications. How does it work? Once the set time limit is reached, users will be sent a notification. After that, it is up to them to get off the app or continue using it.

Apple had also rolled out a similar feature with one of their recent updates where people can view the time they’ve spent on their phones, what they’ve spent the most time on and more.