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Social media is known to have a negative impact on mental heath. Spending too much time on social networks leads to depression, anxiety and addiction problems. Instagram is often criticized for causing negative body issues, especially in young teens. A 2017 survey found that the image sharing platform gave teens feelings associated with “high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying and FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.” –Time

Instagram Hires a “Wellbeing Team”

As a response to the reports that Instagram was affecting the mental health of young people, the company introduced a “wellbeing team.”

A senior Instagram executive said that the mental health of the users is a top priority. Part of the goal set for the team is to combat bullying, harassment, spam and abuse. Other than that, it’s pretty unclear how they will help users who are struggling with body image issues.

How do you fight “Fake”?

Often, Instagram photos are polished to make people look more attractive and food look more delicious. This creates a sense of inadequacy for the people viewing the pictures. The truth is, most of these images don’t depict real life – they are filtered embellishments. In fact, that’s what Instagram is mostly based on, filters. What you’re seeing isn’t real. Will the “wellbeing team” give disclaimers when photos are edited? It’s doubtful they would betray their content creators in that way, or else they wouldn’t have anyone left to post on the platform.

Furthermore:

“this problem stems from a larger, systemic cultural issue — where depression and other mental health issues remain under-addressed, and in which how you look, and how well you fit into cultural expectations of “success,” are given more credence than actual happiness.” –Futurism

Maybe Instagram intends to provide psychiatric counseling to its users who feel inadequate. Perhaps they could also prevent your girlfriend from continuously ‘hearting’ that guy’s selfies who she told you not to worry about.

Until then, I’ll stick to following only meme accounts.

Photo Credit: Md saad andalib