Reports: internal documents reveal Instagram's dangerous impact on youth and teens

 Reports: internal documents reveal Instagram's dangerous impact on youth and teens

In a recent report published Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal cited internal Facebook reports and documents over the past three years, and highlighted a frequent Facebook feed about the dangerous effects of the social networking app Instagram on teenagers, especially girls.

Citing internal Facebook documents and studies over the past three years that have examined how Instagram affects its young user base, CNBC said, citing the Wall Street Journal, it cited severely injured teenage girls. An internal Facebook presentation said that of the teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13 percent of British users and 6 percent of U.S. users attributed the problem to Instagram.

And Facebook research, according to the Wall Street Journal, shows that 32% of teenage girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel bad. Facebook also reportedly found that 14% of boys in the U.S. said Instagram made them feel bad about themselves. While Facebook reports that a large percentage of teens are not negatively affected by Facebook, according to the magazine, the features the social media company identified as most harmful are part of its core form.

According to the Wall Street report, citing reports from Facebook, researchers warned that the Explore page on Instagram, which serves up curated posts to users from a wide range of accounts, can push users toward potentially harmful content. The app also has a culture of only posting the best photos and moments, and functions as an addictive paid product. The paper added that senior executives have reviewed the research and it was cited in a presentation last year to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However, Facebook reportedly struggled to manage the problem while keeping users engaged and coming back. Facebook is also building a version of Instagram for children under 13.