Is Instagram’s decision to implement protective regulations against harmful influences and triggering content for teenagers a case of too little, too late? Michelle Sarkisyan finds out. Instagram’s analytics strategy can be harmful as it maintains a feedback loop of regular personalised content, making it difficult to break the cycle. The negative effects of constant comparison between teenagers, online bullying and subliminal messages are hidden beneath an array of entertainment forms, which makes it hard to recognise the issue and log out.
Instagram has become the ultimate stamp of relevance for today’s generation. Nowadays, it feels impossible to fathom a reality in which you can exist without an online profile. However, after watching Snowden, the biographical thriller, four years ago, a computer science student from Royal Holloway decided to become anonymous in a world where the saying “pics or it didn’t happen” has become deep-rooted. The American whistleblower, Edward Snowden, leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency and prompted a wide-reaching conversation about national security and individual privacy in 2013. This made M.K.K., 28, “fearful of letting anyone track, monitor and use” his personal information against him.
This completely changed his outlook on life. He decided to let go of his successful career as a photographer, which had seen him work for world-renowned hotels and fashion shows, as well as with models and influencers. He deactivated his profiles, leaving no trace of his full name or his face. He switched to a career in cyber and information security. And as of now, he only uses messaging apps like WhatsApp to keep in touch with his family and a close group of friends. He admits his new lifestyle isn’t as fun but he doesn’t regret the decision. In fact, after seeing first-hand how Instagram influencers filter their online lives, he’s become more appreciative of the small things in life. “When your life revolves around social media, your actual physical life suffers. I’m happier now when I do little things like playing with electronics, doing crafts and listening to audiobooks,” he says with a grin. M.K.K. says his life changed immeasurably for the better. “After I stepped away from the manipulation monster that social media is, I became much more relaxed, my attention span improved and I’m less short-tempered nowadays,” he has noticed.
A correlation between screen time and symptoms of depression in adolescence has been found in an original investigation published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal (from the American Medical Association) on 15 July 2019. The four-year study, carried out by researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada and the University of New South Wales in Australia, assessed almost 4 000 Canadian teenagers. The study’s findings showed that depression symptoms increased for every additional hour the adolescents spent on social media.
The study’s lead author, Elroy Boers, explains that the insta-perfect lifestyle shared by influencers can heavily impact the mental wellbeing of their impressionable young followers. The algorithm also exposes teenagers to triggering posts and hashtags they’ve previously searched for. The easily accessible harmful content is “thereby maintaining and enhancing depression”, says Boers. According to a Fired Up survey, 81 out of 100 participants spend two to five hours every day scrolling through their feed to keep up with news and trends and keep in touch with friends and family. While M.K.K. feels less anxious after quitting all social media platforms, more than half of the survey’s participants admitted to feeling fear of missing out when they’re away from their phones for a while. However, for Yasmin Thompson, a style blogger with over 16,000 followers, Instagram was a blessing in disguise. The influencer, 20, struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks. Everyday activities like travelling on public transport and going to the cinema caused her to feel like she was going to die. After five years, she decided to push her boundaries and build up her social media platform, along with taking her medication. Blogging and gradually sharing more with her followers helped her find her confidence. “I found a lot of support through the right community of people on Instagram. While at times social media can be triggering, depending on the people you follow they can help in making you feel a little bit better and in my case this motivated me through my recovery,” she says. However, her journey wasn’t easy. The seemingly luxurious and successful life of attractive people made her reconsider her self-worth, as did negative comments under her posts. “It made me quite upset. To the point that you feel so worthless, you don’t want to be alive. Because it’s hard, it’s hurtful,” she admits. But she says she thrives by evaluating the experience constructively and learning something from it.
Her advice is to always put yourself, your mental health and happiness first. “If you don’t feel good, don’t stay online. Because at the end of the day, you're all you've got,” urges Yasmin. Unfortunately, not all people were lucky enough to find their strength on Instagram. In November 2017, the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell brought about calls for change that are still reverberating to this day. When her parents looked into her Instagram account, they found concerning material about depression and suicide. Posts glorifying dark thoughts and hashtags such as #sadsimpsons were just a click away. They use images and videos from the cartoon series combined with melancholic music and worrying texts. In one post a distressed Bart Simpson receives a text notification from “depression”. The message reads: “Everyone hates you”. Bart’s thought can also be seen: “No one liked me anyway.” And a cursor is seen right above a button that reads: “click to die”. The findings led her father, Ian Russell, to believe that Instagram was partially responsible for his daughter’s death, as she otherwise showed no obvious signs of serious mental health problems. Since then, Instagram has almost doubled the amount of content relating to self-harm and suicide it has taken down; between April and June 2019, 834,000 posts were removed. The platform has also created a content advisory pop up before potentially harmful posts can be seen as well as a sticker to show its support against online bullying.
Charlotte Armitage, a media psychologist, says that while it is easy to blame Instagram, the media platform is not entirely responsible. “As long as children have the right support at home, supportive friends and a happy environment at school, they shouldn’t feel easily influenced by triggering content online,” she says. While she believes the age restriction range to create an Instagram profile could be increased to 16, she believes schools should introduce social media education into the timetable. The Mental Health Foundation’s statistics show that 70% of children and adolescents who experience mental health problems haven’t had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early stage. Charlotte firmly believes children have to be taught how to behave online and taught to think about the impact of their actions from an early age. “They need to learn what feels right for them, and what feels appropriate,” says Charlotte.
The investigative feature was written for a pilot magazine called Fired Up. Along with my role as picture editor of the magazine, I produced pieces adopting a solutions-based approach to global issues.