Every time someone goes to Instagram they find images of chiseled bodies, flawless faces, ways of dressing according to the latest fashion trend and seemingly perfect life plans. It is a “reality” that passes before the eyes of millions of adolescents who, in their desire to imitate their reference influencers, may end up suffering eating and mental health problems .
Although the toxic operation of Instagram is nothing new, it is that Facebook, its parent company, knows it . Those of Menlo Park have a series of studies that reveal the damage that the social network is causing to many adolescents. However, instead of taking action, they decide to downplay it and focus on the “positive benefits,” according to a report in the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
For the past three years, Facebook has been conducting studies on how Instagram affects its users. The results showed that the social network damages a considerable percentage of people who use it, mainly young people. 32% of adolescent girls said that, when they felt bad about their bodies, entering Instagram made them feel worse , revealed an internal slide.
The documents also indicate that “comparisons on Instagram can change the way young women see and describe themselves.” An internal slide from 2019 summarizes: “We make body image problems worse in one in three adolescents .”
Instagram and the trend to show 'only the best'
Photo by Steve Gale on Unsplash Facebook has been aware for years that the tendency to share only the best moments, the pressure to look your best and the addictive algorithm of Instagram can cause adolescents to suffer from eating and mood disorders. cheer up. Precisely, the characteristics identified as harmful seem to be in the essence of the platform.
The leaked Facebook research indicates that those who struggle with the psychological effects of the social network do not necessarily distance themselves. As if this were not enough, the report adds that many wanted to spend less time on Instagram, but lacked the self-control to do so .
When Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, it was a photography-centric app whose main attraction was filters. By then, Mark Zuckerberg had noticed a decline in the number of young users on Facebook. In that sense, they saw their new acquisition as an opportunity not to stop growing.
Today Instagram became one of the pillars of Facebook. With more than 1,200 million active users in the world, it is the platform par excellence for posturing, with image tools and in which publications, many times, only speak of “perfection” and beauty canons far from reality.
Instagram is a money-making machine. With annual revenues that exceed 22.2 million dollars , Facebook seems not to want to lose its most important users: teenagers. More than 40% of them are 22 years old or younger. Possibly because of this, the company insists on continuing with its plans to create a version of Instagram for minors.
Facebook looks the other way and minimizes the problem
Credit: Unsplash In public, Facebook has downplayed the negative effects of Instagram on the very young. The social network has not made public the complete studies revealed by the WSJ investigation. This action of the company led by Zuckerberg casts doubt on its commitment to users.
“The research we've seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits,” Zuckerberg said at a congressional hearing in March 2021 when asked about children and mental health. .
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, referring to the investigation, said Facebook was slow to realize there were downsides to connecting people in such large numbers. The executive acknowledged that some Instagram features could be harmful, but are not easy to address. “There are a lot of good things that come with what we do.” added.
