Facebook was reportedly well aware of the negative impact that Instagram had on teens, but the company allegedly sat on the findings of internal research and did little to solve the problems that have been a source of mental health and body-positivity woes for many. There is no dearth of studies that have arrived at a similar conclusion. As per a survey that was conducted in 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK, Instagram emerged as the worst social platform for mental well-being. According to a study by Flinders University, workout hashtags promoted by influencers actually made female users feel worse about their bodies rather than motivate them.
Another study by the American Psychological Institution in 2019 highlighted a direct link between Instagram usage patterns and issues such as depression, lowered self-esteem, anxiety about general physical appearance, and body dissatisfaction complex. But it’s not just the regular users who feel the social pressure of looking good on Instagram, because influencers feel that same pressure, too. Facebook has taken a few measures such as hiding the likes count and limiting the interaction circle to solve the toxicity problems, but the results haven’t been really effective.
An investigation by The Wall Street Journal — which cites internal research and communication material — now claims that Facebook was well aware of Instagram’s negative effect on the mental health of its user base, especially teen girls. And the worrying part is that despite acknowledging the problem in internal discussions as far back as 2019, Facebook reportedly did not take the necessary steps to tackle the concerns. Internal documents allegedly mention that body-image problems in teen girls are far worse on Instagram than on rival platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat. Instagram’s algorithm, which populates the Explore feed with content based on users’ social activity, was known to direct them towards harmful content that can promote eating disorders and depression, says the report.
Facebook Knew About Instagram's Problems, But Business Priorities Prevailed
And these research findings were apparently not buried, as top executives — all the way up to CEO Mark Zuckerberg — were briefed about it. But instead of diverting resources to prioritize solving the problem, the company reportedly focused more on winning the race for popularity among teens by copying cool new features from rival platforms. In an internal study that covered teen users in the US and the UK, 40 percent of the participants were found to harness feelings of being unattractive once they started using Instagram. An unnamed Instagram research manager reportedly admitted that Instagram feels addictive to a lot of teen users, despite realizing that the platform is bad for them.
Facebook executives have allegedly debated the aforementioned sensitive issues, but they’ve failed to strike a balance between the commercial and ethical side of things. Instagram has recently made changes such as limiting unwanted interactions in DMs, setting account status to private by default for teens, and letting users specify how much sensitive content appears on their feed. But these are solutions to a different problem, and don’t necessarily address how mental health and self-esteem woes among young users can be alleviated. In light of the new revelation, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn have announced that they're launching an investigation and will be talking to Facebook as well as whistleblowers to assess the severity of the situation and proceed further.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Office of Senator Richard Blumenthal