You’re not the only one worried about how much time you’re spending on Facebook. The social media giant is, according to TechCrunch, working on a time-tracking tool designed to let users know how long they spend on Facebook.
Photo: Sean Gallup (Getty)
The “Your Time on Facebook” tool, found in Facebook’s Android app by Jane Manchun Wong, gives you a summary of the time spent on Facebook in the last seven days.
You’ll see the time spent for each day, along with your average for the week. The tool will also let you set your own time limits, and provide you with reminders as you creep closer and closer to your limit.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because everyone is getting on board the health-and-wellness train. Even Instagram’s Kevin Systrom says the company is working on tools for users to see how long they spend looking at everyone else living their best life.
It isn’t exactly a huge surprise for Facebook to be prototyping some sort of time-tracking software, considering the sea change in public opinion when it comes to time spent both online and on our phones.
Still, it’s a bit redundant. Both Apple and Google introduced time-tracking software in the forthcoming updates to their smartphone operating systems, designed to curb excessive phone use by informing users of the time they spend in apps and preventing users from opening apps once the allotted time limit has been used.
Even YouTube is introducing a “Take a Break” notification feature, in case you need a reminder to pull your eyeballs away from your screen.
As with most self-imposed restrictions, they’re incredibly easy to simply ignore. Sure, you can just bypass the limit, but if you really cared about your well-being you’d let someone else set the time limit for you.