Meta has announced a new pilot program to give researchers from the Center for Open Science (COS) access to Instagram data for six months. The program aims to research and analyse the impact of social media platforms on teen mental health.
Over the years, the tech giant has faced mounting pressure and criticism for its reluctance to share data with the scientific community, and as such, this move is quite significant. The experiment is expected to yield valuable insights into the relationship between teens and Instagram, especially in terms of how the consistent use of social media affects their brains.
This initiative follows revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen, who disclosed that Meta’s internal research found Instagram could harm teenagers, particularly girls. Her testimony before Congress highlighted the need for independent research to understand social media’s true impact on mental health.
First reported by The Atlantic, Meta’s pilot program will permit researchers to access specific data points, such as the number of accounts followed by participants and their Instagram usage patterns. However, certain types of data, including user-demographic information and post content, will remain off-limits.
This selective data sharing is designed to protect user privacy while enabling researchers to investigate Instagram’s potential impacts on mental health.
The academic teams selected for this study will be responsible for gathering a pool of teenage participants. This process will involve securing appropriate permissions from parents or guardians and implementing robust security measures to protect the privacy of all individuals involved.
While this initiative marks a significant step forward, it is not without its critics. The black-box nature of social media platforms like Instagram has long hindered comprehensive research into their effects.
“The submission and review processes will be administered by the Center for Open Science (COS) with the substantive peer review managed by an academic Editorial Board convened by COS. Meta will not evaluate or be involved in the selection of submissions at any step in the process, except to respond to the data requests,” explained COS researchers.
The academic community has expressed mixed feelings about the pilot program. While some researchers see it as a crucial step towards transparency, others are cautious about Meta’s control over the data. Given the fact that Meta’s previous collaborations with researchers have been fraught with challenges. To address this issue, Meta will employ “registered reports,” a technique that requires researchers to pre-register their research methods and ensure results are published regardless of the outcome.
Instagram and other social media have been detrimental to the mental health of teens and children. Moreover, the platforms also affect their privacy and security. Last month, it was reported that Instagram’s algorithm was recommending explicit content to kids. Another popular social media platform, Snapchat, was sued for affecting teen mental health.
Last year, in detailed research, it was revealed that Instagram was helping paedophile networks by recommending pedo hashtags and menus to users. Similarly, Facebook has also been a preferred platform for paedophiles.
To counter these issues, Meta took some steps like blurring nude images in private messages of minors, adding new parental control tools and limiting advertisements shown to teenagers. The tech giant also halted the development of Instagram Kids in 2021 after backlash from parents and researchers.
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