Larry Magid: Protecting mental health on Instagram
https://www.siliconvalley.com/2021/09/16/larry-magid-protecting-mental-health-on-instagram-advice-for-teens-and-parents/
A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed internal Facebook documents proclaiming that “Instagram is toxic for teen girls.” The article quoted documents from Facebook researchers acknowledging “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” and “Teens blame Instagram
for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.” Some readers of this article consider it to be an exposé but — as someone who has worked closely with Instagram and Facebook safety officials for years, none of it surprised me. While Facebook didn’t make this piece of research public, I’ve had several on-the-record conversations with Facebook safety officials who acknowledge that their products can have unintended consequences.