Instagram is toxic to young girls’ mental health

Originally, social networks were meant to be casual spaces. However, “32 percent of teen girls say that when they feel bad about themselves, it gets worse when they visit Instagram. A Wall Street Journal poll says comparisons with bodies shown on Instagram can change young women’s self-image and the way they describe themselves.

Instagram made “body representation problems worse for one in three teenage girls,” reports a US daily that disclosed confidential documents from the social network.

Teens blame Instagram for rising anxiety, depression, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts, survey says most young users would like to spend less time on the app, but they lack “the will to actually do it” Is.

Facebook data scientists concluded that some of the issues, such as “social comparison”, were specific to Instagram and were not replicated by other platforms. Facebook’s internal findings echo several studies that have implicated social media in the epidemic of mental health issues among young people.

In 2017, YoungMinds and the Royal Society for Public Health published research titled Instagram has the most negative impact on youth’s mental well-being of all social networks. Emma Thomas, chief executive of the charity YoungMinds, said that while social media can be good, it also comes with increased pressure.

He added that being surrounded by constant images of perfect life and seemingly perfect bodies can have a big impact on how you feel about your life and how you look, “and comparing yourself to others.” It’s hard not to.” Thomas said.

In response to the controversy, Instagram’s public policy manager Karina Newto said that “as issues like negative social comparisons and anxiety exist in the real world, they will continue to exist on social media as well.” , adding that “this does not change the fact that we take these results seriously, and we have made a specific effort to respond to this research and change Instagram for the better.”

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