The head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said Monday it will be pausing its work on the children-dedicated Instagram app project in order to listen to concerns raised by parents, experts and regulators regarding its impact on teens’ mental health.
The decision had to do with Wall Street Journal’s article suggesting Facebook which owns the photo-sharing app, had commissioned research demonstrating Instagram could have some effect on girls’ health where body image and self-esteem are concerned.
Mosseri, in defense of the concept of an Instagram site designed for 10- to 12-year-olds, said in a blog post
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Contrary to The Wall Street Journal’s characterization, Instagram’s research shows that on 11 of 12 well-being issues, teenage girls who said they struggled with those difficult issues also said that Instagram made them better rather than worse.
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This research, like external research on these issues, found teens report having both positive and negative experiences with social media.
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We do internal research to find out how we can best improve the experience for teens, and our research has informed product changes as well as new resources.
Mosseri strongly believes the specific age group should be able to use a version of the app – free of advertisements and can be monitored by parents. He also added that the social media can help children form connections.
“Critics of ‘Instagram Kids’ will see this as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea. That’s not the case. The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today.”
