Instagram is toxic for girls

Parents Forum Parent Cafe
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I started scrolling through Reddit threads when my D decided to transfer looking for insights on various schools. I was astounded by the number of posts involving mental health and depression. It’s incredibly sad to me the number of teens and young adults suffering from depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc….

I don’t use social media and I think it’s a huge contributor to the many levels of dysfunction in our country from the individual through the family up to the national level. But why are these companies still allowed to operate unregulated when they know how toxic their products are, they ignore it and keep shoveling more into our lives? We didn’t allow cigarette companies to do it (granted it took too long). Why do social media companies get a pass (other than the obvious answer). Is society really that hopelessly addicted? They are destroying the health of our children and more broadly our society.

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Little kid was entering college at the time when FB was still in its early stages… what helped her realize that not “all that shines is gold” was her experience with Photoshop. She was into graphic design and mastered the program… so she knew how images could be manipulated. I’m worried about our grandchildren. Something definitely needs to be done… but unlike with cigarettes etc., the cat is out of the bag and can’t be located.

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My kid was not permitted to have an accounts on social media so long as she was below the minimum age for a membership. We played whack-a-mole for a few years, finding her Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts and shutting them down. Unfortunately for her, my wife and I are techies, and were able to usually find them within a few weeks. Once she was old enough she was allowed Instagram accounts so long as I could follow them (I never posted, never liked, and was silent). She avoided Tumblr after I showed her that she was being followed by a 53 year old man, when she was obviously barely a teen. It totally freaked her out. She never really used FB except for her dance troupe.

On her 18th birthday, I stopped following her “finsta” account (the Instagram account where she rants or shares stuff only for her smallest closest friend group), and had her stop following me, so I would no longer see her posts. I still follow her regular Ig account since she posts her public stuff on there.

In any case, I looked through the posts and blogs on her accounts before I closed them down, and, yes, Instagram can be exceedingly toxic, and Tumblr even more so.

What needs to be done likely is to educate. Schools should have classes in which students learn the difference between social media and real life.

Compared to the pass that is given to gun sellers, drug companies, cigarette and alcohol companies, junk food chains, etc, social media can barely be said to be getting any sort of pass at all.

The only reason that there is any outcry over Instagram is because the parents don’t use Instagram and don’t understand how it works.

Remember that people saw similar potential for harm from books, and they were right. But laws didn’t help and were abused. Only education and parental controls will be helpful.

I mean, parents buy their kid a smartphone and allow their kid to do anything they want with the cellphone. If parents would give their 12 year old the keys to the Honda, we wouldn’t demand the heads of the car manufacturers when the kid wraps the car around a street lamp.

Yes, Instagram is toxic. So parents should get their act together, and learn how to put controls on their kid’s phones and other devices. Or maybe not get their kid a smartphone until they are older.

It isn’t Zuckerberg’s job to step in because a parent cannot say “no” when their kid asks for a smart phone at the age of 7, or is unwilling to talk about anything with their kid.

The parents can also demand that schools provide classes like I mentioned.

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Even ten years ago, I was at a School Committee meeting where the increasing student mental health issues were discussed, and the consensus was that social media was to blame.

My kids (in early 30’s now) did not have cell phones until late high school, or maybe, with the oldest, until college. I forget. They grew up without a tv, and we got a computer when the oldest was 14 (he works in CS). That would be so extreme now, but 20 years ago it was still possible.

We all have Instagram and use it only for photography or art work. One of my kid used the “stories” for funny photos, or pet and plant photos.

If selfies could be banned from Instagram, that would solve a lot! Just kidding, but not.

I think the most basic problem is that everyone documents their lives, rather than just living it- and for all to see. Maybe this started with the camcorders and parents documenting everything rather than just watching, say, the concert. There is a new ritual where proposals, which used to a private moment, are filmed and posted on IG.

I agree that if parents can exert some control during teenage years, that might help, but most won’t. Handing social media over gradually should follow the development of autonomy and judgment in other areas.

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Because… money. The BILLIONS of dollars generated from the FB/Insta ads. And now Insta has added the functionality to shop right from the ad generated on the site. The demographic of 13-22 year olds is a goldmine. We are a greedy, money-driven society.

Don’t leave out TicTock & Snapchat.

Not only are the platforms themselves potentially toxic but also the filters that turn a person in a photo into a whole new person, creating an impostor. Girls in particular look at a doctored pic and label themselves as inadequate.

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Referring to this woman as a whistleblower is an insult to actual whistleblowers. The totality of her revelations are, as she said on 60 Minutes, that Facebook shows content to users that they are most likely to engage with (gasp).

She was raised by two professors, active in the Iowa caucuses, and attended Olin College and Harvard. It’s almost as if the Facebook document heist, WSJ article, and congressional testimony were premeditated and carefully orchestrated. Very timely since a faction has been wanting to destroy Facebook since the 2016 election.

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What does being raised by two professors have to do with it?

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What does attending Olin College and Harvard have to do with it?

I must admit that “a faction” sounds Ominous. BTW, I would like to point out that people on both sides of the political spectrum have, at different points in the past five years, expressed their interests in bringing Facebook down.

I am still interested in what @OhiBro meant, when he wrote:

This information is apropos of nothing, and lacks any other explanation.

@OhiBro?

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Right now we have a post, woman and comments about weight. It’s about women, middle aged women, who make disparaging remarks about themselves and how to address those comments.

Unfortunately there have been unrealistic expectations of how women should look and weight long before Instagram. And woman much older than teens and young girls buy into an mirage of what is beauty.

Do I think Instagram contributes to this, sure. Do I think it’s been an issue since long before Instagram, absolutely.

We don’t talk about eating disorders and body dysmorphia, mental illness and mental health enough. But we do talk about them more than when I was young.

I suspect that many young people, children of CC parents suffer with these issues. But even here, where we seemingly talk about EVERYTHING, how many times has there been a good discussion about eating disorders? Very rarely.

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Being raised by two professors means nothing on its own. It’s the collective pedigree of this woman that earmarks her as a likely political operative.

If she were a legitimate whistleblower, she wouldn’t be testifying about the common good, national security issues, tearing our societies apart, etc. She should present the evidence she has, and let qualified people make those assessments.

But she had no shame in revealing her goal here: “There needs to be a regulatory home where someone like me can do a tour of duty after working at a place like this [FB, Pinterest, etc].”

In a chamber of thieves and political opportunists, she was called a hero. LOL Facebook is considering legal action against her because stealing documents for the press is not a valid whistleblower action in this situation.

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As the problem yesterday showed, Facebook is a monopoly.
Entire countries were left without means to communicate.
Some employees couldn’t even get through their “smart doors”.
Too many functions, too much power concentrated into one business and one person.

In addition, it is our century’s tobacco in terms of nocivity (causing addiction and health issues) while pretending to do good. (Tobacco was supposed to be good if you had a cough, it was supposed to give you strength and was thus liberally given to WW1 and WW2 soldiers…)

If it is purposely then something can be done about it: tweak the algorithms. They know -these effects aren’t new- and they don’t.
If they have no clue about it, then it cannot continue as is.
They should also provide data to researchers rather than shut them down, as they did to the NYU team.

Is there truly someone who thinks FB has no idea what it’s doing to people?
(I didn’t follow the interview etc. But this is just further proof of now oft-studied phenomena.)

Let’s see if our generation can do better than the previous ones against a toxic monopoly.

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I’m still trying to understand why any of this is newsworthy and not just common sense.

Yes, as a publicly-traded company, FB priorities profits.

Yes, as a company that makes its profits from advertising, FB prioritizes posters will big followings.

Yes, the target demo is big spenders, generally the 18-49 demo which advertisers desire.

Yes, teenagers are future large posters/future influencers.

And in particular, teen girls.

FB is the biggest advertising venue in the world: why is this not common knowledge?

btw: I’m a cynic that the feds will take any meaningful action; FB and social media is a big tool for the right kind politician which gives that pol a tremendous advantage, or so they believe. Even if it doesn’t the appearance of an advantage cannot be taken lightly.

The Zuckerberg-Chan foundation gave out hundreds of millions last election cycle.

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In other areas, the government at least TRIES to enforce age requirements. Thus, a movie theater that allows 11 year olds watch R movies or a bar that winks at fake IDs and has a lot of repeat clientel under the age of 21–or even 18–runs a risk that the laws will be enforced. In statutory rape cases, it is no defense that the underage partner claimed to be over the age of consent.

But nothing is done to FB or other media sources when they let underage children into adult sites. Yes, you can blame the parents, but it is HARD to police a teen’s use of social media. I don’t believe for a second that FB isn’t aware that many participants are below the age for “authorized” use.

And why are we allowing FB or instagram to determine what IS the appropriate age to use social media? Isn’t that an issue that should be a matter of public policy?

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Not just FB, but Apple, Google and Twitter too have testified before Congress. And the discussion is around changing or removing their “Section 230” exemption(s). I don’t think many, if any, members Congress are trying to “destroy” tech companies. Regulate? Sure.

Hyperbole isn’t necessary here.

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I know FB has been added to this discussion but most teens & 20-somethings don’t use it. They joke that it’s “old people’s social media” :laughing:

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This pretty much summed up my thoughts on this whole thing.

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Are there LAWS which enforce the movie ratings for R Or PG? It is my understanding that there are no such laws in the US. Can you cite to one?

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FB owns Instagram.

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The Motion Picture Association’s ratings aren’t laws–you’re right. However,it’s my understanding some states and/or localities have laws restricting which movies minors can see. Those are enforceable.

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I don’t know of any such laws in any US state or city. . And from my understanding any such law would be struck down unless it involved something considered an obscenity. Several laws restricting minors access to video games have been nullified by courts as Unconstitutional. See for example American Amusement vs Kendrick. I don’t think some people are aware that regulating social media wades into complex First Amendment issues.