Instagram's chief admits years of difficulty persuading teens to use break feature
In testimony during a major trial, Instagram's head Adam Mosseri acknowledged that the platform spent years trying to convince teenagers to adopt its 'Take a Break' well-being tool. The feature was designed to encourage users to step away from the app, but adoption among teens remained low. Mosseri's remarks came as part of legal proceedings concerning the company's impact on young users.
The disclosure emerged during courtroom testimony, where Mosseri addressed the platform's prolonged struggle to drive engagement with its well-being tool. The feature, intended to prompt users to pause their scrolling, saw notably weak uptake among the teenage demographic the company most wanted to reach.
The admission forms part of broader legal scrutiny into how the social media giant's products affect younger users. Mosseri's remarks suggest that even with a built-in safety mechanism, persuading the app's most active age group to voluntarily step away proved a persistent challenge.
This testimony could influence how regulators and the public view tech companies' self-regulatory efforts. If voluntary tools fail to reach the most vulnerable users, pressure may grow for stronger external oversight of platform design. Parents and educators might also reconsider how they guide teen screen time, while other platforms could face similar questions about the effectiveness of their own well-being features.