For years, social media services have been found to have a negative impact on young users. In fact, Instagram even provides a guide to take care of physical and mental health and has also collaborated with local NGOs. Most recently, Meta began opening up Instagram data for researchers to use as a source for mental health studies on the effects of social media use on teenagers.
Meta collaborates with the Center for Open Science. The data accessed is for use throughout the six months and the data accessed by researchers also takes care of the privacy of each user. Meta will also self-select which researchers are eligible and each Meta study will not be involved. Researchers will also collect data themselves by asking Instagram users to participate in their study program with parental permission.
The data collected is accounts that teen users follow, how long they use Instagram, account settings and more.
Strength Comparison: Determining the positive or negative relationship between users and the use of Instagram for social or emotional well-being of adolescents.
National or Regional Comparisons: Comparing the effects of Instagram across countries or regions on youth social or emotional well-being.
Social, Cultural, and Contextual Understandings: Investigating the relationship between Instagram use and adolescent well-being in different population groups.
Explanations for Observed Relationships: Investigating why the statistics of Instagram use by teenagers having positive or negative effects on the self is worth noting.
Last year Meta was also sued due to complaints that their social media platform contributed to mental health problems for teenage users. A few months ago, the Minister of the Ministry of Communications Fahmi Fadzil reminded parents that children under the age of 13 should not be allowed to have social media accounts. What do you think about this?