Instagram Gets a New ‘Quiet Mode’ To Cut Down on Social Media Overload

To help people focus on their lives and not social media, Instagram is releasing a new “Quiet mode,” which can temporarily pause incoming notifications. 

On Thursday, Instagram began rolling out the feature to users, which can automatically halt notifications during scheduled periods of the day. The feature will also temporarily change your profile status to “in quiet mode,” alerting all your followers. 

In addition, the Quiet mode will send an auto-reply to anyone who tries to direct message you over Instagram while silencing the notification about the DM. 

(Meta)

“You can easily customize your Quiet mode hours to fit your schedule and once the feature is turned off, we’ll show you a quick summary of notifications so you can catch up on what you missed,” said Instagram, which is owned by Facebook parent Meta. 

(Meta)

Meta built the feature on feedback from teens concerned that Instagram was distracting them from their studies. The Quiet mode also arrives when Instagram has been fighting off allegations that the social media service can harm the mental health of teenage users. 

It’s perhaps why Instagram plans on nudging teens to enable the Quiet mode “when they spend a specific amount of time on Instagram late at night.” In a video about the announcement(Opens in a new window), Meta also acknowledged that Instagram can create distractions for users.  

Quiet mode is coming to users in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. To access it, click on your user icon, then go to the three line bar in the top-right corner. You’ll then have to click on “Settings” and tap “Notifications.” 

To help parents manage their teens social media use, Instagram noted it recently “added the ability for parents to see their teen’s Instagram settings, including privacy and account settings.” This can be done through the Instagram Family Center and supervision tools(Opens in a new window). 

“If their teen updates a setting, parents will receive a notification so they can talk to their teen about the change. Parents can now also view accounts their teen has blocked,” Meta added.  

For other tips on cutting down on your social media use, check out our guide. Instagram’s settings also includes a “Pause All” button for notifications. But it can only stop notifications for a block of minutes or hours, rather than regularly scheduled periods of the day.