Thread by @WSJ

When researchers inside Instagram began studying young users’ experiences on the photo-sharing app, they found that nearly a third of teenage girls said the platform made negative feelings they had about their bodies worse, internal documents show on.wsj.com/3Cb9QFU

“Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression,” a slide from an internal Facebook presentation said. Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of U.K. users and 6% of U.S. users traced those feelings to Instagram. on.wsj.com/3lr3o6D

The research offers the deepest look yet at what Facebook, which owns Instagram, knows about the app’s impact on teens and their mental health. Researchers concluded that some of the problems were specific to Instagram, and not social media more broadly. on.wsj.com/3hvQ5RA

In public, Facebook has consistently played down Instagram’s negative effects on teens, and hasn’t made its research public or available to academics or lawmakers who have asked for it on.wsj.com/2VGzS4d

Anastasia Vlasova joined Instagram at 13 and became entranced by the lives and bodies of fitness influencers. About a year ago, she started seeing a therapist after developing an eating disorder—something she attributes to her time on the app. on.wsj.com/3AcSXKn

Eva Behrens, a 17-year-old high-school student in Marin County, Calif., said she estimates half the girls in her grade struggle with body-image concerns tied to Instagram on.wsj.com/395NbOz

Facebook’s researchers said that Instagram should reduce exposure to celebrity content about fashion, beauty and relationships. A former executive recently questioned the idea of overhauling the app to avoid social comparison. on.wsj.com/3CegDOP

Teen boys aren’t immune. In a deep dive Facebook’s researchers conducted into mental health in 2019, they found that 14% of boys in the U.S. said Instagram made them feel worse about themselves. on.wsj.com/3hwIima