> thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. Another slide offered a blunter conclusion:

> thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. Another slide offered a blunter conclusion: Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression. This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups. In 2018 "obesity prevalence was [...] 21.2% among 12- to 19-year-olds." [0] according to the CDC. That's one out of 5 being obese, not just overweight. And it has more than tripled since the 70's [1]. I have to wonder if it's related. > These revelations sparked a media firestorm. Instagram Is Even Worse Than We Thought for Kids, announced a Washington Post article published in the days following the Journal's scoop. "It's Not Just Teenage Girls: Instagram Is Toxic for Everyone," claimed an op-ed in the Boston Globe. Zuckerberg's public comments about his platform's effects on mental health appear to be at odds with Facebook's internal findings, noted the New York Post. I find it interesting to see the traditional media's position here considering... Facebook effectively beats them at their own game! Advertising revenues are down for every legacy news outlet while Facebook is growing its add business year after year. So of course they are not going to be thrilled about that particular company. > In a defiant post published on his Facebook account, Mark Zuckerberg pushed back, stating that the motives of his company were "misrepresented." The very fact that Facebook was conducting this research, he wrote, implies that the company cares about the health impact of its products. Zuckerberg also pointed to data, included in the leaked slides, that showed how, in eleven out of the twelve areas of concern that were studied (such as loneliness and eating issues), more teen-age girls said that Instagram helped rather than hurt. Especially with lockdown, I can see how social media probably helped teenagers. And that's the tip of the iceberg; for LGBTQA+ youth it can literally save a life. Also, notice how Zuckerberg is "defiant" when he contradicts large media conglomerates? [0] https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html [1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_15_16/obesity_child_15_16.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_15_16/obe...