Facebook Knew That Instagram Would Harm Teenagers

The news was published on September 14 of this year in an article in The Wall Street Journal . According to a report by this medium, Facebook knew / knew that Instagram was likely to cause harm to adolescents, having a strong impact on their mental health. All those young people with a more vulnerable personality and low self-esteem would run the risk of suffering from various psychological disorders.

It is striking to know that large technology companies, such as Facebook, carry out studies periodically. They do it to understand the behavior of users and, in turn, the effect of the use of their platforms, as well as the changes they make to it. Instagram is one of the media with the most users and at the same time one of the most analyzed. As we well know, in that application, the image is everything.

When you scroll (move the screen on your mobile) you are trapped by a succession of photographs in which the text is usually minimal. In this digital universe, windows open to which our young people look at it very early. Scenarios, especially visual, that condition the construction of their own stories.

These portals are completely unreal, artificial universes where influencers are social models and referents for young people. The life they show is far from the life they have.

To this are added other factors that we will now analyze and that reinforce the premise that social networks can be a danger to mental health.

Facebook knew Instagram would harm teens

The Wall Street Journal published (for its subscribers) the study that the great technology founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues carried out a few years ago.

As is well known, Facebook acquired Instagram in 2011 for two billion dollars and, for now, the business has been profitable despite knowing that it could be a dangerous technology for potential users.

In this work, data and information were revealed that are not really new for many companies and for many of the institutions that regulate the technology market.

One example, research conducted by the University of Kentucky has already exposed troubling data. The use of social networks, such as Instagram, causes adolescents to feel increasingly insecure, dissatisfied and frustrated with the circumstances they live.

Instagram and unreal perfection

Facebook knew that Instagram could cause harm to teens. However, he does not appear to have taken too many steps to safeguard his mental health. In this way, something that he could see in his internal research is that the use of Instagram significantly reduces self-esteem in adolescents who do not feel good about their own body.

On the other hand, 40% of Instagram users indicated that they felt less and less attractive. With this, several data are also in evidence. The first is that children and adolescents are not aware that much of the images in them are not real.

Nor do they understand that this universe of seemingly perfect people creates completely unattainable expectations and ideals of beauty. This causes that, little by little, their body diagrams and the vision they have of themselves are completely distorted. Even assuming that his image does not fall within the parameters of what is socially acceptable.

Depression and suicidal thoughts: Facebook knew Instagram would cause harm

The tyranny of the like and absolute dependence on screens is leading many young people to depression, anxiety disorders and even suicidal ideation. Research works such as those carried out at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine highlight this worrying reality.

Since the arrival and spread of social networks two decades ago, the lives of young people and adolescents have completely changed; especially in mental health matters. The incidence of depression and suicidal behavior has risen, to the point that suicide is the leading cause of death between the ages of 10 and 34.

The feeling of missing things if they are not connected and the obsession with the constant reinforcement of their photos and publications leads them to build an unhealthy lifestyle. There is also another fact. Their brains, especially at those ages, are constantly programmed to compare themselves to others.

This, which in the past could have been useful for us to evolve and learn from each other, in the digital age does not make any sense. Because they are taking unrealistic and unattainable models as references.

The importance of education and prevention

Facebook knew that Instagram would cause harm to adolescents, and yet it has not changed one of its mechanisms to reduce this impact. What’s more, the algorithms of this application suggest more accounts related to what we look at. That is, if a teenager follows an influencer who explains how to lose weight, she will receive more publicity on the same topic. 

What can be done about this worrying reality? The solution is not to prohibit their use, as we well know, this would be of little use. What is really useful is education and prevention.

Working on aspects such as self-esteem, acceptance of one’s own body and focusing on other dynamics that go beyond the screens and anchor them to the real world is essential and necessary. Let’s keep it in mind, for your health, for your happiness.