8 hours Ago By Ishika Gupta
Explainer Briefly Slides Meta announced earlier this week that it is testing a new feature that allows users, including teenagers, to reset content recommendations on Instagram . The company said this will ensure users have “safe, positive, age-appropriate experiences” on the platform. The feature will be rolled out globally and applied across Explore, Reels, and Feed pages.
Instagram said that while resetting recommendations, users can review accounts they follow and remove followers. Recommendations will gradually personalize over time based on user interactions. As per Instagram, the feature “builds on” tools already offered by Instagram to curate their recommendations like approving the content recommended in the Explore page via its “Interested” button.
Instagram’s Recommendation feature made headlines a few months ago when Meta rolled out a feature which automatically limited the recommendation of political content in users’ feeds, raising questions about transparency and information flow on the internet. Teen Instagram Accounts In September this year, Meta introduced Instagram Teen Accounts with several built-in protections. Firstly, such accounts would already be classified as private accounts by default.
Additionally, people not connected with or following teen users were blocked from messaging them. A similar extension was applied to mentions or tagging teen users in content. Moreover, their access to sensitive content, such as violent altercations or cosmetic procedure promotions, was also restricted.
Time limit reminders and sleep mode-enabled features were also embedded with Teen accounts. Meta also introduced a feature allowing parents to approve and deny their child’s request to change settings or to manage their settings themselves. However, these changes were announced following sharp criticism of Meta from multiple fronts for adverse impacts of Instagram on children, including increased anxiety and mental health issues.
A lawsuit filed by 33 US states against Meta accused Facebook and Instagram of processing children’s data without parental consent, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). In October, Instagram launched features such as blocking screenshots of transitory media sent in private messages to protect users from sextortion. Additionally, teenagers would also receive alerts when conversing with users located in a different country.
The platform claims this would help prevent teenagers from falling prey to sextortion by scammers who lie about their location to gain a teenager’s trust. A similar feature on TikTok In March 2023, the social media platform TikTok released a feature which allowed users to refresh their “For You” feed to update content recommendations. Like Instagram, TikTok faced criticism for promoting content about eating disorders and self-harm to teenagers.
In response, the platform updated its efforts to filter out mature-themed content from teen accounts, TechCrunch reported . Algorithm and recommendation transparency In the past, there have been multiple calls for platforms to be more open about their algorithms and content recommendations to users. For instance, former President of the United States Barack Obama advocated for companies to share information about the scrutiny of their algorithms with researchers and regulators.
Moreover, in 2021, a bill was also proposed in the US Senate requiring social media platforms to disclose information about their algorithm usage and most popular content, among others. The same year, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote to Instagram’s parent company Meta asking for details of its algorithms. Later, in 2022, the government also was reportedly considering the inclusion of a proposal to hold “Internet and social media firms accountable” for their algorithms within the Digital India Act.
AI Recommendations on Instagram and Facebook In 2023, following criticism of social media platforms for lack of clarity on how they rank content, Meta explained how its AI system recommends content across Instagram and Facebook detailing user behavior analysis and content engagement factors. Also Read:.
