Thread by @georgia_wells

“WE MAKE BODY IMAGE ISSUES WORSE FOR 1 IN 3 TEEN GIRLS.” That’s a document that Facebook employees shared internally, summarizing research about teen girls who experience these issues

By me, @JeffHorwitz + @dseetharaman wsj.com/articles/faceb…

“Every time I feel good about myself, I go over to Instagram, and then it all goes away,” one teen told me.

Facebook knows that Instagram is harmful to many young users—especially teenage girls, internal documents show. Publicly, Facebook plays down the app’s impact.

“The research that we’ve seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental-health benefits,” Mark Zuckerberg said at a congressional hearing in March when asked about children and mental health.

Facebook research on Instagram represents one of the clearest gaps revealed in the documents between Facebook’s understanding of itself and its public position.

The docs say:
-32% of teen girls said when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse
-“Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe themselves”
-Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 6% of US users traced it to Instagram

“If you believe that R.J. Reynolds should have been more truthful about the link between smoking and lung cancer, then you should probably believe that Facebook should be more upfront about links to depression among teen girls,” said @jean_twenge

Teens also told Instagram researchers they "often feel ‘addicted’ and know that what they’re seeing is bad for their mental health but feel unable to stop themselves."

And here's the podcast, take a listen: wsj.com/podcasts/the-j…