'In a March 2020 company presentation obtained by the Journal, Facebook’s researchers stated that, “Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.” instagram teengirl bodyimage bodypoz
A Wall Street Journal article published on Tuesday revealed that for the past three years Facebook has conducted research on the ways in which Instagram impacts the mental health of its users. The results are grim, especially for one of Instagram’s top demographics: teenage girls.
Facebook’s team conducted online surveys with thousands of Instagram users and also met with teenage girls in focus groups to better understand their experiences on the app. “I felt like I had to fight to be considered pretty or even visible,” one teen told researchers of her time on Instagram. Other teens discussed feeling insecure about their bodies when looking through their Instagram feeds, even if they had a positive self-perception offline.
Documents obtained by the Journal indicate that Zuckerburg and other executives were routinely briefed on issues relating to teen mental health, political discourse, and human trafficking on the company’s various platforms. For two years, top Facebook officials have been well aware of Instagram’s dire mental health consequences.
Now, Facebook is scrambling to clean up its dirty laundry. In a statement posted on Tuesday, Instagram’s head of public policy, Karina Newton, addressed the Journal report directly, stating: “While the story focuses on a limited set of findings and casts them in a negative light, we stand by this research. It demonstrates our commitment to understanding complex and difficult issues young people may struggle with, and informs all the work we do to help those experiencing these issues.
Since March, Facebook has discussed plans for a new, tween-tailored version of Instagram called Instagram Youth, stating, “We believe that encouraging them to use an experience that is age appropriate and managed by parents is the right path.” Facebook has maintained that this new Instagram would be a positive step toward curbing mental health concerns.
If Facebook won’t listen to its own researchers, why should it be allowed to further its outreach to adolescents, who are especially vulnerable to mental health issues?
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