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Facebook tells kids to take a break from social media
Facebook is to give teenagers tips on taking breaks from the website amid fears that too much social media use is leading to stress.
The company has told young users it is "OK to take a social media break" if they feel stressed on the social network and spend some time in the real world, and acknowledged that younger people should stop using the site "if using Facebook is making you feel sad or stressed".
The advice comes as part of Facebook's "Youth Portal", a site which offers advice on how teenagers should use social media.
The advice appears to contrast with Facebook's own attempts to get more young people on the social network, such as through its Messenger Kids app, which is aimed at children under the age of 13.
Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, has criticised social media companies for failing to protect children and demanded apps introduce time limits.
Facebook's youth site is designed to teach younger people how to safely use social media, offering advice such as "think for five seconds before you speak" and "if you see something, say something".
It comes as part of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's push to encourage more "meaningful social interactions" on Facebook, showing people more content from friends and family and less from publishers. Zuckerberg has said that people who use Facebook to interact with people get more value out of it, compared to those who just passively scroll.
The tips will appear in the News Feeds of teenagers on Facebook. "Earlier this month we started showing tips for teens in News Feed," Facebook safety head Antigone Davis and policy manager Karuna Nain said in a blog post, "like how to control who sees what on your profile, and links to the Bullying Prevention Hub."
Facebook has said it expects to see some fall in user numbers as it encourages greater engagement on the social network.
However, whether social media can make users happy at all has been called into question. According to one study in the US, experiences like Netflix and Spotify were far more rewarding, while almost all social networks caused participants to feel less happy. Facebook was the worst with just 29 per cent saying they feel better after going on the site, and 16 percent reported feeling less happy.