When used to harm others anything can do it, including social media.
A knife in the hand of a surgeon can save a life, and in the hands of a criminal can kill. Social media posts used to harm others may impact everyone's mental-health, especially teen girls.
Instagram says it's looking at new ways to discourage users from focusing on their physical appearance after The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook researchers have repeatedly found that the photo-sharing platform is toxic for teen girls.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday that researchers at Facebook (FB), which purchased Instagram in 2012, have been conducting studies for the past three years into how the app affects its millions of young users. The research shows the platform can damage mental health and body image, especially among teen girls. Facebook executives have often played down mental health concerns in public.
"We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls," said one internal presentation slide obtained by The Journal, summarizing research about teen girls who experience the issues. Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram, one presentation showed, according to The Journal.
Karina Newton, head of public policy at Instagram, wrote in a statement posted on Tuesday that referenced the newspaper article that while Instagram can be a place where people have "negative experiences," the app also gives a voice to marginalized people and helps friends and family stay connected.
Newton said that Facebook's internal research demonstrated the company's commitment to "understanding complex and difficult issues young people may struggle with, and informs all the work we do to help those experiencing these issues." [1]
But there are good news!
Years ago singer Meghan Trainor released a song All About That Bass, as a message to teen girls not to be obsessed with their body and size.
The song received praise and critics, and it was the best-selling song by a female artist during the 2010s in the United States [2]
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/15/tech/instagram-teen-girls/index.html
A knife in the hand of a surgeon can save a life, and in the hands of a criminal can kill. Social media posts used to harm others may impact everyone's mental-health, especially teen girls.
Instagram says it's looking at new ways to discourage users from focusing on their physical appearance after The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook researchers have repeatedly found that the photo-sharing platform is toxic for teen girls.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday that researchers at Facebook (FB), which purchased Instagram in 2012, have been conducting studies for the past three years into how the app affects its millions of young users. The research shows the platform can damage mental health and body image, especially among teen girls. Facebook executives have often played down mental health concerns in public.
"We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls," said one internal presentation slide obtained by The Journal, summarizing research about teen girls who experience the issues. Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram, one presentation showed, according to The Journal.
Karina Newton, head of public policy at Instagram, wrote in a statement posted on Tuesday that referenced the newspaper article that while Instagram can be a place where people have "negative experiences," the app also gives a voice to marginalized people and helps friends and family stay connected.
Newton said that Facebook's internal research demonstrated the company's commitment to "understanding complex and difficult issues young people may struggle with, and informs all the work we do to help those experiencing these issues." [1]
But there are good news!
Years ago singer Meghan Trainor released a song All About That Bass, as a message to teen girls not to be obsessed with their body and size.
The song received praise and critics, and it was the best-selling song by a female artist during the 2010s in the United States [2]
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/15/tech/instagram-teen-girls/index.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_About_That_Bass