A Piece of Art That Relates Social Media on Teens
Oct viii, 2021 –Eating disorders expert Bryn Austin, professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, discusses the recent revelation that Facebook has long known that its Instagram app is harming teens' mental wellness.
Q: Leaked documents from Facebook show that the company has known for at least two years that its Instagram app is making body paradigm issues worse for teens, particularly girls. What's your reaction to this news?
A: I was aghast at the news—but not surprised. We've known for years that social media platforms—especially image-based platforms like Instagram—have very harmful effects on teen mental wellness, specially for teens struggling with body image, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. From experimental enquiry, nosotros know that Instagram, with its algorithmically-driven feeds of content tailored to each user'southward engagement patterns, tin can draw vulnerable teens into a dangerous spiral of negative social comparing and hook them onto unrealistic ideals of appearance and body size and shape. Clinicians and parents have been sounding the alarms well-nigh this for years. Then to hear that Instagram's own research shows this likewise is not surprising. What astounds me, though, is what whistleblower Frances Haugen exposed: that, in internal conversations at Instagram, staff and senior leadership acknowledged these very damning findings, and however the actions they've taken in response have been little more than window dressing, sidestepping the fundamental problem of the platform'southward predatory algorithms. This revelation is what leaves me aghast.
Q: In a recent web log postal service , Instagram'south head of public policy wrote that the company knows that social media "can exist a place where people take negative experiences" and that they're working to mitigate the problem, but added, "Problems like negative social comparison and feet exist in the globe, and then they're going to be on social media also." What practise you make of this argument?
A: Instagram is peddling a false narrative that the platform is simply a reflection of its users' interests and experiences, without distortion or manipulation by the platform. But Instagram knows full well that this non true. In fact, their very business model is predicated on how much they can manipulate users' behavior to boost engagement and extend time spent on the platform, which the platform then monetizes to sell to advertisers. Instagram is literally selling users' attending. The company knows that strong negative emotions, which can be provoked by negative social comparison, go on users' attention longer than other emotions—and Instagram's algorithms are expressly designed to button teens toward toxic content so that they stay on the platform. For teens struggling with body image, anxiety, or other mental wellness issues, negative social comparison is a unsafe trap, intensifying their engagement with the platform while worsening their symptoms. Simply with Instagram'due south nefarious business model, every additional minute of users' attention—regardless of the mental wellness impact—translates into more profits.
Keep in mind that this is not about just virtually putting teens in a bad mood. Over time, with exposure to harmful content on social media, the negative impacts add up. And we at present have more than crusade for worry than ever, with the pandemic worsening mental health stressors and social isolation for teens, pushing millions of youth to increase their social media use. Nosotros are witnessing dramatic increases in clinical level depression, feet, and suicidality, and eating disorders cases have doubled or even tripled at children'south hospitals across the country.
Q: What steps are necessary to lessen potential damage to teens from Instagram?
A: If nosotros have learned annihilation from the contempo Congressional hearings with the whistleblower, the Wall Street Journal investigative reporting, and other of import inquiry, information technology's that Instagram and Facebook will non—and probable cannot—solve this very serious social problem on their own. The business model, which has proven itself to exist exquisitely assisting, is self-reinforcing for investors and summit management. The platform's predatory algorithms have been aggressively guarded, keeping them from existence scrutinized by the public, researchers, or government. In fact, U.Southward. federal regulation on social media hasn't been meaningfully updated in decades, leaving protections for users and society woefully inadequate.
But with the new revelations, society'due south opinion of the industry may have soured and at that place may exist a new willingness to demand meaningful oversight and regulation. What'southward encouraging is that on the heels of the contempo Congressional hearings, there are already several pieces of legislation in the works to found a new government arrangement of algorithm auditors, who would have the expertise and authority to require social media algorithms to meet basic standards of safety and transparency for children and users of all ages on Instagram and other social media platforms.
Q: What advice do you accept for parents, and for teens who apply the platform?
A: Until we have meaningful government oversight in place, there is still a lot that teens and parents can do. Although it's a real struggle for parents to keep their kids off social media, they can set limits on its utilise, for instance by requiring that everyone's phones go into a basket at mealtimes and at bedtime. Parents can also block upsetting content and go on dialogue open up virtually how different types of content tin can brand a young person feel most themselves. Equally important, teens and parents can get involved in advocacy, with groups such as the Eating Disorders Coalition and others, to accelerate federal legislation to strengthen oversight of social media platforms. With all that nosotros know today about the harmful effects of social media and its algorithms, combined with the powerful stories of teens, parents, and customs advocates, we may finally accept the opportunity to go meaningful federal regulation in place.
– Karen Feldscher
photo: iStock
Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/how-social-medias-toxic-content-sends-teens-into-a-dangerous-spiral/
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