Following a recent Wall Street Journal exposé that reported Facebook’s knowledge of the harmful impact that its social-media subsidiary Instagram has on teenage girls, the internet giant once again defended its sister site on Sunday, claiming that Instagram actually improves the self-esteem of teen girls.
Facebook vice president of research Pratiti Raychoudhury published a blog post that said the findings that Instagram adversely affects how teen girls view their bodies were “simply not accurate,” despite the research coming from a leaked internal Facebook document.
“The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced,” Raychoudhury wrote in the blog.
According to Raychoudhury, the report that the Journal based its article on actually investigated 12 specific areas that also included anxiety, eating disorders and loneliness, and “body image was the only area where teen girls who reported struggling with the issue said Instagram made it worse.”
However, Raychoudhury neglected to rebut other findings from the Journal report including the degree to which teens feel Instagram becomes an addiction.
Facebook has reason to put this particular fire out quickly: The company’s global head of safety Antigone Davis is scheduled to speak before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee Thursday to answer queries about not only the Wall Street Journal article but also the company’s plan to release an “Instagram for kids,” an idea that is now currently on hold.
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