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Instagram's unskippable ads test causes outrage among users (www.techspot.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

57 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Instagram has long been accused of stealing features from platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter/X. It appears that the company has looked to YouTube for its latest idea: unskippable ads that you have to watch for a period of time before being able to scroll further.

A Redditor posted images of the Instagram ad breaks. FireCubX writes that users will suddenly find they have hit the bottom of their feed, so to speak, and can't scroll down any further. An "ad break" icon will appear with a countdown timer that prevents users from browsing through more content until they view an ad, at which point the counter starts running down.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I sure hope so. I use Instagram to follow my friends and local businesses, but I can get sucked into reels too. I have an app that specifically pops up if I spend too much time in Instagram to break that cycle.

[–] barsquid 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

What's that app? I need that.

I need something like a smartwatch to just tap me on the wrist every 10 minutes so I can gather my thoughts. I want to be consciously deciding to waste all my time online instead of just losing half hour chunks of my day by accident.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

In a Neal Brennan stand-up special (Piped link) he mentions he uses a Pavlok to shock him every 3 minutes on stage to remind him to smile.

[–] barsquid 2 points 5 months ago

LOL this is ridiculous but also perhaps exactly the thing I need.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

Neal Brennan stand-up special

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.burockgames.timeclocker

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Have you tried just looking at "Following"? That shows everything in chronological order, without ads. Lets me quickly see what's new, and then close the app. I don't discover many new recipes anymore, but that's a price I'm willing to pay.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Is there a way to set it to that permanently?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Not that I know of... Most of the time I forget to change, but since the second post I see is an ad 90% of the time I usually realize my mistake very quickly.