SO, Facebook knew two years ago that its app Instagram harms young girls’ body image.
This week’s leak revealed details from the 2019 internal research.
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The company was aware it can cause serious damage to mental health but has failed to do anything about it.
In fact, boss Mark Zuckerberg stood in front of Congress and said that Facebook was good for young people’s mental health. That’s despite 13 per cent of suicidal girls in Britain blaming the app for their desire to kill themselves. It was clear that he saw the research before commenting.
It was conducted by his organization and showed that 32 percent of girls believed Instagram made them feel worse for their bodies, even if they already had insecurities.
Unrealistic standards
It also makes body-image issues worse for one in three teen girls. It continues to add beauty-editing filter to the app.
What is most concerning about the research? Teenagers are well aware that Instagram is responsible in part for their anxiety and depression. Yet, they continue to use it.
Full disclosure: My daughter inset, after years spent detesting social media, now makes her living off of Instagram. I understand the positive and negative sides of social media, but I also see the downsides.
Balance is the key for her. She is a young, naturally beautiful woman who doesn’t have to do any work, eats well, and takes care of herself.
She has real friends, real connections and a real life and so she’s not lost in the world of Instagram. She’s had her fair share of trolls. She has learned to accept it and to forget her jealousy. She now agrees with me that it’s more important what you think of yourself rather than what people you have never met think of you.
But not all young females are as resilient.
No company is perfect. But knowing the harm it is doing to young girls in particular, Facebook’s failure to address it is shocking and cynical.
It spends more than any other Big Tech company on lobbying — almost $20million in the US alone last year — in a bid to convince the world and the politicians it is on the side of the consumer, when it is clearly not.
It pays very little tax and won’t stump up for news content because it is focused on the bottom line above anything else.
When I was growing up, we communicated via letters, telephones or — imagine — we would just actually talk to one another. Today communication can be done through pictures and screens.
And the “better” your pictures are, the better your status and therefore the better your life.
The problem with the unrealistic images so many people post on Instagram is that such scrutiny on appearance, together with the unrealistic standards of “perfection”, encourages people to focus on the negatives and imagined flaws, rather than the many positives.
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No wonder so many young women turn to lip fillers, Botox and any other procedures that might make them feel able to compete — often with people who just don’t look like their online pictures. The problem with filters is that they mask the truth and it’s easy to become addicted to editing.
I know of someone who edits her photos so often that you wouldn’t know they were the same person if you saw them on the street.
When your self-worth is reduced to an image, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that if only you were slimmer, had a bigger bum and thicker hair, your life might be that much better.
Maybe you’ll magically get the lifestyle, too: The perfect house, with the perfect boyfriend, driving the perfect car and holidaying in a bikini all year around. As we all know, material possessions do not guarantee happiness. But in Insta-land, that’s easy to forget.
Many young girls want instant gratification, such as likes and positive comments.
Part of this process is to make pictures look slimmer.
When they post natural (unfiltered) pictures, they risk getting trolled: They are too fat, ugly, a slag or a bitch — all the hate words used to target women’s self-esteem.
It’s often spiteful and always driven to make people feel bad and the bullies feel better.
Instagram is unable to stop this behavior, which frustrates my. That’s unacceptable and there should be serious consequences.
We should be aware of the reality of Instagram.
Naomi’s staying power is a thing of beauty
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NAOMI CAMPBELL, who is now in her fifties and a new mother, is also modelling for Calvin Klein.
She still looks sexy hot. She is amazing – still every inch the supermodel she was in the Nineties and it looks like she will keep going for ever, because she has true beauty.
EMMA’S FACE OF FUTURE
WHAT a breath of fresh air it has been to see the brilliant, amazing, serene and classy Emma Raducanu in action over the past couple of weeks.
She is a true tennis genius, and a brilliant businesswoman. At the tender age 18 she trademarked her name and is now a multimillionaire.
Her talent, determination, and hard work make her the most likely new face for Chanel and Tiffany.
After winning the match with Ian, Emma brought home beautiful pictures of Emma.
She achieved it without the support from her parents in New York. It was a feat of true determination.
Emma is everything a young woman should be. She takes control of her life and owns her mistakes. She celebrates her successes and puts herself first.
KIM’S A COVER STORY
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TURNS out I was not the only one to have looked at Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala outfit in bafflement.
Kendall Jenner, her sister, didn’t realize that Kim was the woman behind the matching stockings and mask.
Kim is seen with her arms extended while Kendall stares confused at her during their red carpet meetup.
Maybe she wore the mask because she couldn’t be bothered with make-up that night.
It is highly unlikely that this outfit will ever see the light of day.
PAIN OF BRAVE SIMONE
IT was painful to watch Simone Biles break down in tears at Wednesday’s Senate hearing.
The Olympian was describing the sexual abuse she suffered at Larry Nassar’s hands in USA Gymnastics.
Worse, she said the FBI failed her and dozens of other victims by turning a “blind eye”.
These young women were abused first by their coach – and then by the FBI when they tried to report it.
It was all over again, in front of an international audience.
It is amazing how brave they were to publicly go through this.
But it all begs the question: What’s the point of these committees?
What are the politicians going do to stop this from happening again?