"About 32% of women who use Instagram feel worse about their bodies."
This is one of the worrying
conclusions of the internal report
that Facebook itself made about its
flagship application
and that have now been leaked to the media.
This research analyzes the
negative impact
of this network on the population and, especially, among the youngest. "There are more and more studies that warn that Instagram can
negatively affect the mental health of users
, particularly adolescents," says Ferran Lalueza, professor and researcher at the Information and Communication Sciences Studies at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). "The fact that the company itself has verified and documented it removes any doubts that may exist about this risk," he adds.
Although it is not the social network with the most users (currently it has 1,221 million
),
it is the one that is growing the most: in five years it has tripled its number of accounts in Spain and is the favorite of millennials, according to The Social Media Family. "It is necessary to take into account the incidence that it can have in a young population", explains Lalueza.
According to this internal report, one of the main effects of this network is the
"negative social comparison",
which causes users to
value themselves based on their attractiveness, wealth and success compared to others
.
"In the unreal world of Instagram, an attractive physique is often presented as the only gateway to success and
social acceptance
. This message can be painful, exclusive and distorting for those who do not feel comfortable with their body" , details the teacher.
Both Lalueza and the UOC psychologist José Ramón Ubieto
reveal other reasons that make Instagram a potentially toxic social network
:
The physical as presentation.
"The image is the almost unique feature of presentation in the network. This makes all the value fall on the state of that snapshot and
reduces the formal presentation
", warns Ubieto, adding that "the effect of this comparison can increase hesitations of every adolescent. Comparing yourself with thousands of photos makes it more difficult to inhabit your own body ".
A false but always perfect reality.
"The world that is exhibited on Instagram is an
unreal world, the result of a biased selection (we show the best and ignore the worst) and with beautifying filters
. If we compare ourselves with this world without being aware that it is fictitious, our reality ends up being quite depressing, "says Lalueza.
A very sensitive target audience.
"At ages when we are still shaping our personality and learning to accept ourselves as we are,
the contrast mentioned above can be particularly devastating
." According to this study, adolescents have a high emotional sensitivity and, the prolonged development of the reflective process and cognitive control, can make them specifically reactive to this type of media.
It is very difficult to log out.
"They have a high capacity to
absorb interest, time and dedication
that deprives them of other activities," says the psychologist. Along these lines, Lalueza explains that "social networks are carefully designed so that
we get hooked
and dedicate our time to them. The more time we invest in Instagram, the
higher the opportunity cost in terms of positive things that we could be doing
and that we will not ".
Eco toxic.
For Ubieto, this network works like an echo chamber: "
If you communicate a wish or an idea
, for example about self-harm or suicide, this network
multiplies your options. That echo is a reinforcement of your own idea
.
ELIMINATION OF THE 'LIKES'
"
The elimination of likes can somewhat alleviate this effect of social comparison
, but it will detract from that network and will create new options with the same model," says Ubieto.
"Behind this strategy, there is the intention of the companies not to 'discourage' users who do not have thousands of followers or accumulate hundreds of likes, which are the majority," says Lalueza.
A
'discouraged consumer'
who does not get as many likes and comments as other users can easily become a passive element, becoming a danger to the proper functioning of the platform.
INSTAGRAM KIDS
Concern for one's own image, the feeling of FOMO (fear of being left out of the online world), online bullying, anxiety and sleep problems derived from restlessness are some of the negative effects on the most frequently cited young people. in other reports. For this reason, Instagram considered launching a version for the youngest (ten to twelve years old) that it has now paralyzed, called
Instagram Kids, which would allow content, access and advertising to be controlled
.
For the experts, it is neither sufficient nor can it solve anything.
"Technological solutions will hardly be valid solutions for a problem that technology itself has created.
The best parental control mobile application is the parents
, in the sense that they accompany someone in the construction and in its development", warns Ubieto.
For this communication expert, Instagram Kids has few options to prosper because teenagers are attracted to their idols, who in many cases are adults, and to brands.
They want to be there, to interact.
All this controversy has revealed an unquestionable reality: Facebook was
aware of the damage that its star app is causing
but has been ignoring it.
Faced with the controversy caused, Instagram proposed two ideas to its users: encourage people "
not to focus on content that could contribute to negative social comparison
" and to "
take a break
" from the platform.
His position, according to Lalueza, "deserves little credibility and is one more example of Facebook's reactive strategy.
If the leak had not occurred, the company would never have made this type of recommendation
."
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Instagram
Facebook
Spain
SpainThe denialist threat: "All those who collaborate with the Covid scam must be hanged on a scaffold"
This is how 'fake news' is built
Good educationMarc Masip: "Mobile is the hero of the 21st century"
See links of interest
La Palma volcano live
Last News
2021 business calendar
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Master investigation
How to do
Barça - Casademont Zaragoza