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Instagram kills, from Coddling: > U.S. hospitals going back to 2001 and were able to estimate self-harm rates for the entire country. They found that the rate

Instagram kills, from Coddling: > U.S. hospitals going back to 2001 and were able to estimate self-harm rates for the entire country. They found that the rate for boys held steady at roughly 200 per hundred thousand boys in the age range of fifteen to nineteen. The rate for girls in that age range was much higher, but had also been relatively steady from 2001 to 2009, at around 420 per hundred thousand girls. Beginning in 2010, however, the girls’ rate began to rise steadily, reaching 630 per hundred thousand in 2015. The rate for younger girls (ages ten to fourteen) rose even more quickly, nearly tripling from roughly 110 per hundred thousand in 2009 to 318 per hundred thousand in 2015. (The corresponding rate for boys in that age range was around 40 throughout the period studied.) The years since 2010 have been very hard on girls.

lupire 5y ago
Has anyone checked Instagram use among those girls and others?
- retrac 5y ago
  Yes. Social media use is correlated with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, particularly in girls, in a growing number of studies. And in the studies that compare different social networks, Instagram usually ranks the most negatively. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/depression-in-girls-linked-to-higher-use-of-social-media https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/depression-i... https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/fulltext/2019/11000/social_media,_internet_use_and_suicide_attempts_in.12.aspx https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/fulltext/2019/11000/s... But of course, an isolated, depressed, anxious child is likely to withdraw and spend a great deal of time online. Whether it's a symptom or a cause, or both and to which degree, seems unclear. That said, just anecdotally, as a man in my 30s, I cannot look at the typical popular Instagram profile targeted at my demographic. It evokes horrible feelings. Jealousy, image insecurity, sexual insecurity, sexual frustration, FOMO, social status insecurity... all bundled up in a nasty ball. And quite reliably induced after ten seconds and three photos of inhumanely sexy men in implausibly photogenic homes that cost 10x as much as I'll ever make. No thanks. I believe that walling that whole thing off mentally, has been good for me.
  - vilts 5y ago
    Can you give some exaples of a typical popular profile targeted at your demographic? My Insta feed is currently filled with only machining and related topics, but I also don't check the "what's hot" or things like that.
    - retrac 5y ago
      Well, disclaimer -- I'm gay so that's a bit of a confound. The object of desire is also who you want to be. Some studies suggest we are particularly susceptible to this kind of image-relational problem, and maybe for that reason. (I can believe it.) Anyway in the name of research, I pulled some Instagram URLs from a Telegram chat with some friends. To their credit they mostly seem to post memes and jokes from Instagram, not Instagram models. But the first non-meme account I pulled up is a good example, actually: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminbenz/ https://www.instagram.com/benjaminbenz/ (somewhat NSFW?) Exotic vacations, mountain-top kisses, ATVs, cute dogs, fast cars, jet-setting, gym gains, beautiful mansions, fishing trips, big muscles, sports, a too-sexy boyfriend, and a good dose of almost-tasteful butts and some sexual suggestiveness. No cares. All happy. In love. Damn, I want all that. Why isn't my life like that? Sure, it's mostly fake. But good luck convincing my amygdala of that.
      - nate_meurer 5y ago
        I really appreciate this explanation, thank you.
- magicalhippo 5y ago
  Our national broadcaster NRK had a series[1] specifically about suicide amongst teenage girls and their use of Instagram. From what they found[2], one suicide would trigger other attempts, often copying the method used. It seems clear to me this isn't random. [1]: https://www.nrk.no/emne/trigger-warning-1.14739155 https://www.nrk.no/emne/trigger-warning-1.14739155 [2]: https://www.nrk.no/spesial/det-skjulte-nettverket-1.14739159 https://www.nrk.no/spesial/det-skjulte-nettverket-1.14739159

lupire 5y ago

Has anyone checked Instagram use among those girls and others?

retrac 5y ago
Yes. Social media use is correlated with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, particularly in girls, in a growing number of studies. And in the studies that compare different social networks, Instagram usually ranks the most negatively. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/depression-in-girls-linked-to-higher-use-of-social-media https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/depression-i... https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/fulltext/2019/11000/social_media,_internet_use_and_suicide_attempts_in.12.aspx https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/fulltext/2019/11000/s... But of course, an isolated, depressed, anxious child is likely to withdraw and spend a great deal of time online. Whether it's a symptom or a cause, or both and to which degree, seems unclear. That said, just anecdotally, as a man in my 30s, I cannot look at the typical popular Instagram profile targeted at my demographic. It evokes horrible feelings. Jealousy, image insecurity, sexual insecurity, sexual frustration, FOMO, social status insecurity... all bundled up in a nasty ball. And quite reliably induced after ten seconds and three photos of inhumanely sexy men in implausibly photogenic homes that cost 10x as much as I'll ever make. No thanks. I believe that walling that whole thing off mentally, has been good for me.
- vilts 5y ago
  Can you give some exaples of a typical popular profile targeted at your demographic? My Insta feed is currently filled with only machining and related topics, but I also don't check the "what's hot" or things like that.
  - retrac 5y ago
    Well, disclaimer -- I'm gay so that's a bit of a confound. The object of desire is also who you want to be. Some studies suggest we are particularly susceptible to this kind of image-relational problem, and maybe for that reason. (I can believe it.) Anyway in the name of research, I pulled some Instagram URLs from a Telegram chat with some friends. To their credit they mostly seem to post memes and jokes from Instagram, not Instagram models. But the first non-meme account I pulled up is a good example, actually: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminbenz/ https://www.instagram.com/benjaminbenz/ (somewhat NSFW?) Exotic vacations, mountain-top kisses, ATVs, cute dogs, fast cars, jet-setting, gym gains, beautiful mansions, fishing trips, big muscles, sports, a too-sexy boyfriend, and a good dose of almost-tasteful butts and some sexual suggestiveness. No cares. All happy. In love. Damn, I want all that. Why isn't my life like that? Sure, it's mostly fake. But good luck convincing my amygdala of that.
    - nate_meurer 5y ago
      I really appreciate this explanation, thank you.
magicalhippo 5y ago
Our national broadcaster NRK had a series[1] specifically about suicide amongst teenage girls and their use of Instagram. From what they found[2], one suicide would trigger other attempts, often copying the method used. It seems clear to me this isn't random. [1]: https://www.nrk.no/emne/trigger-warning-1.14739155 https://www.nrk.no/emne/trigger-warning-1.14739155 [2]: https://www.nrk.no/spesial/det-skjulte-nettverket-1.14739159 https://www.nrk.no/spesial/det-skjulte-nettverket-1.14739159