Antisocial media

The words on the screen were explosive. In a meeting room in California in 2019, some of Facebook's top executives stared in horror at the presentation in front of them.

"We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls," declared one slide. "Thirty-two percent of teen girls said when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse," said another.

According to newly leaked documents, Facebook has known for years that teenagers link its InstagramA social-networking service that allows users to share photographs and videos. app to feelings of anxiety. Yet in public, the company has kept quiet. 

Indeed, as recently as this March, CEOThe Chief Executive Officer is the highest ranking person in a company. They are responsible for making decisions about the company's future. Mark Zuckerberg even insisted that social media is positive for mental health.

But now the truth is out, and many are furious with Facebook. "This was not a chance finding," said Jonathan HaidtAn American social psychologist and author. Haidt has previously worked personally with Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's role in society. , a world renowned social psychologist, author and teen mental health expert yesterday. "I think the picture is getting pretty clear, we have a harmful product on our hands and it's hurting a lot of girls." 

"Any product that encourages children to upload photos of themselves, to be rated and commented on by strangers, is likely to harm kids," Haidt continued. "If this is the business model there is no way to fix it." 

"In pursuit of profit these companies are stealing children's time, self-esteem and mental health," declared one campaign group5Rights Foundation campaigns to make digital services more suitable for children. . 

And it is not just children who are affected. On Tuesday, Love Island star Amy Hart described o a UK government inquiry what it was like waking up to dozens of abusive messages on Instagram.

There may be little the government can do. Facebook, which owns Instagram, began life in the dormitory of a 19-year-old Harvard student. 

Today, the same man, Mark Zuckerberg, controls a vast international social media empire. His company is as wealthy as the Philippines or Norway. He decides how billions worldwide communicate, share their lives and protect their privacy. 

"In a lot of ways Facebook is more like a government than a traditional company," Zuckerberg himself admits. 

But it is not just Facebook under fire. In 2016, one American journalist's essay Why I Quit Twitter became an unexpected viral hit.

Meanwhile, many accuse TikTok of using addictive algorithms to catapult unsuspecting teenagers into global stardomAmerican teenager Charli D'Amelio has the most followers on TikTok at 107 million. She is just 17. . After months of criticism, the Chinese-owned app announced this week that it is launching a  "well-being guide" advising users on how posting could affect their mental health. 

Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, who wrote the influential essay The Coddling of the American Mind together, believe the benefits of social media are obvious. It helps millions of young people engage with each other and the world.

But social media also makes it "extraordinarily easy to join crusadesA type of aggressive campaign. Between the 11th and 13th Centuries, the Crusades were a series of religious wars., express solidarity and outrage and shun traitors". For Haidt and Lukianoff, the effects of this hive mind on those within it are clear - in 2019, nearly 40% of girls who spent five hours on social media everyday showed symptoms of depression.

Is Facebook an evil business?

Definitely, say some. Instagram deliberately pursues and entices vulnerable teenagers to expand its user base and maximise its ever-growing profits. Meanwhile its owner, Facebook, uses its huge wealth, power and international influence to evade regulations that would keep children safe.

It is absurd to call Facebook evil, say others. Sites like Facebook have helped millions connect across the world. But social media is a reflection of society as a whole. Many teenagers, especially girls, face mental health challenges in the real world, and so these problems will of course exist online as well.