Instagram will help researchers study if it’s hurting teen mental health

Instagram will let a select group of researchers access its data to study how the platform affects the mental health of teens and young adults. The pilot program, launched in partnership with the Center for Open Science (COS), could produce independent studies that offer insight into the relationship between social media and a teen’s well-being.

Researchers will gain access to Instagram data for up to six months, which may include information on how many accounts a teen follows, how much they use Instagram, their account settings, and more. However, Meta notes it won’t provide access to a user’s demographic information, nor will it include the contents of their posts, comments, or messages.

Through the program, first reported by The Atlantic, COS will choose up to seven research proposals in different areas related to the mental health of teens. (Meta will not be involved in the process.) Researchers must also recruit the teen participants and get their parents’ permission. COS says the study of data directly from Instagram could help “contribute to understanding of well-being when combined with other sources of data,” such as surveys and other types of studies.

“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,” Curtiss Cobb, Meta’s vice president of research, said in a statement.

Instagram’s effect on the mental health of teens has been in the spotlight for a while now. In 2021, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen came forward with a trove of leaked documents, including internal research that suggested “teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.” Scientists later called on Meta to make its mental health research more accessible.

Instagram has since rolled out features intended to protect kids on the app, but concerns about Instagram — and other online platforms — remain, leading to a deluge of child safety bills and age verification laws across the US.