Instagram's Reels and Social Media: Are They Distractive and Addictive for Young Users?

Instagram's Reels and other social media features similar to TikTok may be distractive and addictive for young users, causing them to spend excessive time scrolling and potentially hindering their necessary rest. Instagram is trying to remind younger users about taking breaks from the app, but when a teenager spends more than ten minutes on Instagram and it starts to get late, the application may display a reminder to quit the app. The European Union is concerned about the scrolling infinite feeds in applications, including Instagram, as they provide opportunities for distraction from reviewing friends' postsings or getting hooked on Reels by swiping up. So far, Instagram does not have many tools for us to control how much time we spend on the app, like the Time Spent feature (in Settings > Privacy). For younger users, the application offers different parental controls and nightly reminders. These nightly reminders will appear when a teenager has been on Instagram for more than ten minutes watching Reels or typing messages at night (from 10:00 PM). The reminder includes the question 'Are you sure you want to take a break?' as its heading text. However, teenagers cannot disable these reminders, unlike adults. In addition, it's worth noting that they can ignore the reminders and continue using Instagram or even fall asleep while using it.