Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show - WSJ

Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show - WSJ: About%20a%20year%20ago%2C%20teenager%20Anastasia%20Vlasova%20started%20seeing%20a%20therapist.%20She%20had%20developed%20an%20eating%20disorder%2C%20and%20had%20a%20clear%20idea%20of%20what%20led%20to%20it%3A%20her%20time%20on%20Instagram.%0A%0AShe%20joined%20the%20platform%20at%2013%2C%20and%20eventually%20was%20spending%20three%20hours%20a%20day%20entranced%20by%20the%20seemingly%20perfect%20lives%20and%20bodies%20of%20the%20fitness%20influencers%20who%20posted%20on%20the%20app.%0A%0A%u201CWhen%20I%20went%20on%20Instagram%2C%20all%20I%20saw%20were%20images%20of%20chiseled%20bodies%2C%20perfect%20abs%20and%20women%20doing%20100%20burpees%20in%2010%20minutes%2C%u201D%20said%20Ms.%20Vlasova%2C%20now%2018%2C%20who%20lives%20in%20Reston%2C%20Va.%0A%0AAround%20that%20time%2C%20researchers%20inside%20Instagram%2C%20which%20is%20owned%20by%20Facebook%20Inc.%2C%20were%20studying%20this%20kind%20of%20experience%20and%20asking%20whether%20it%20was%20part%20of%20a%20broader%20phenomenon.%20Their%20findings%20confirmed%20some%20serious%20problems.%0A%0AA%20LOOK%20INSIDE%20THE%20FACEBOOK%20FILES%0A%0AOur%20reporters%20will%20discuss%20their%20findings%20from%20the%20WSJ%u2019s%20Facebook%20Files%20investigation.%20Ask%20your%20questions%20now%20and%20join%20them%20for%20a%20live%20Q%26A%20at%201%20p.m.%20ET%20Monday.%0A%u201CThirty-two%20percent%20of%20teen%20girls%20said%20that%20when%20they%20felt%20bad%20about%20their%20bodies%2C%20Instagram%20made%20them%20feel%20worse%2C%u201D%20the%20researchers%20said%20in%20a%20March%202020%20slide%20presentation%20posted%20to%20Facebook%u2019s%20internal%20message%20board%2C%20reviewed%20by%20The%20Wall%20Street%20Journal.%20%u201CComparisons%20on%20Instagram%20can%20change%20how%20young%20women%20view%20and%20describe%20themselves.%u201D%0A%0AFor%20the%20past%20three%20years%2C%20Facebook%20has%20been%20conducting%20studies%20into%20how%20its%20photo-sharing%20app%20affects%20its%20millions%20of%20young%20users.%20Repeatedly%2C%20the%20company%u2019s%20researchers%20found%20that%20Instagram%20is%20harmful%20for%20a%20sizable%20percentage%20of%20them%2C%20most%20notably%20teenage%20girls.%0A%0A%u201CWe%20make%20body%20image%20issues%20worse%20for%20one%20in%20three%20teen%20girls%2C%u201D%20said%20one%20slide%20from%202019%2C%20summarizing%20research%20about%20teen%20girls%20who%20experience%20the%20issues.%0A%0A%u201CTeens%20blame%20Instagram%20for%20increases%20in%20the%20rate%20of%20anxiety%20and%20depression%2C%u201D%20said%20another%20slide.%20%u201CThis%20reaction%20was%20unprompted%20and%20consistent%20across%20all%20groups.%u201D%0A%0AAmong%20teens%20who%20reported%20suicidal%20thoughts%2C%2013%25%20of%20British%20users%20and%206%25%20of%20American%20users%20traced%20the%20desire%20to%20kill%20themselves%20to%20Instagram%2C%20one%20presentation%20showed.