Many people believe our screen time has much to do with our Mental Health. A large number of Indian parents attribute their children’s failure to their increasing mobile use. A decent amount of Research evidence shows that it might have some credibility to it. But whether Instagram is solely responsible is still the question. To get deeper insight into this question, Meta has given access to its data to the Centre for Open Sciences (COS) for a pilot program to understand the relationship between Social Media Usage and the Well-being of Teenagers.
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Long-sought
In 2021, Frances Haugen, an American scientist and whistleblower, exposed some confidential documents, including internal studies. She revealed that teenagers attributed their rising anxiety and depression to Instagram. This prompted scientists to urge Meta to share its mental health research more openly. Since then it was expected that sooner or later, Meta will let researchers use its data, as reported in TOI.
Is it a threat to Confidentiality?
According to The Atlantic, researchers will work on around 7 research proposals in different areas of mental health. They will have access to data for only 6 months. But interestingly, they won’t be able to access the demographic details, content of their posts, comments, etc. of the users This data will only include how many accounts a teen follows, the duration of Instagram usage, their account settings, etc.
So, breaching of personal data is not expected. “Parents, policymakers, academics, and technology companies are grappling with how best to support young people as they navigate online spaces, but we need more data to understand the full picture” stated Meta’s president of Research, Curtiss Kob.
Is data enough?
According to COS, analyzing data directly from Instagram, alongside other research methods such as surveys and studies, can offer a more comprehensive understanding of teen well-being. This approach provides valuable insights that may not be achievable through a single method alone. So scientists are also looking to enlist some teenagers to participate in the study and get consent from their parents.
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Conclusion
This collaboration is expected to have a great impact on Mental Health Research as Instagram is related to a whole range of emotional experiences among teenagers. Researchers are very hopeful that they will study the emotional patterns of teenagers and provide some actionable strategies to reduce the effect of using social media on overall well-being. By analyzing large-scale data sets, researchers aim to uncover insightful information that will aid in both preventive measures and supportive interventions.