A Wall Street Journal article with the backing of Facebook research accused Instagram of harming the mental health of teenagers, especially young girls by promoting posts that set a certain standard of what beautiful bodies should look like.
Instagram head of public policy, Karina Newton, debunked the claims of the article saying that the research on the effects of social media on people’s well-being is mixed, and that “What seems to matter most is how people use social media, and their state of mind when they use it.”
She made reference to a similar Harvard study conducted which was a mix of both good and bad experiences of US teenagers on social media. According to Newton, a teenager may enjoy connecting with friends on the social network one day, then clash with the same person another day.
The Wall Street Journal insinuated that Instagram takes no action to curb the harm that has affected millions of teens who immediately feel disoriented about their bodies after seeing what has branded beauty in the imagery there.
Newton’s response to this was that “Issues like negative social comparison and anxiety exist in the world, so they’re going to exist on social media too.”
Instagram has worked to address problems of bullying, suicide, self-injury, and eating disorders exposed at the platform, Newton said.
She also revealed that certain steps are being experimented with to understand the type of posts that causes inferiority complex on the gram. “We’re increasingly focused on addressing negative social comparison and negative body image,” Newton said.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that these nudges will help point people towards content that inspires and uplifts them, and to a larger extent, will shift the part of Instagram’s culture that focuses on how people look.”
