Editor’s Note: Facebook and its various properties (Instagram, WhatsApp) have been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good way. Congress has been holding social media hearings where Facebook is the #1 bad guy, the Washington Post has had a host of stories, and the Wall Street Journal has a whole section devoted to covering the social media giant. I’m hoping to do several posts discussing these issues. Here’s the first one looking at the Wall Street Journal’s coverage. Will update as new articles get published.
Oct. 27, 2021
The Wall Street Journal so far has 14 articles in its The Facebook Files series. Yes, you will likely need a subscription for access. Not a problem. The WSJ offers attractive rates for both faculty and students. I’ve annotated a few of these articles.
A slide show about Instagram produced internally at FB found:
“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the researchers said in a March 2020 slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe themselves.”
Instagram brings in more than $100 billion a year in revenue and depends on young people engaging with them.
Publicly, IG plays down the risks it presents to teens and preteens, even while internal documents highlight problems.
Their research over several years found:
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- They came to the conclusion that some of the problems were specific to Instagram, and not social media more broadly. That is especially true concerning so-called social comparison, which is when people assess their own value in relation to the attractiveness, wealth and success of others.
- The tendency to share only the best moments, a pressure to look perfect and an addictive product can send teens spiraling toward eating disorders, an unhealthy sense of their own bodies and depression, March 2020 internal research states.
FB bought IG in 2012 for $1 billion when it only had 13 employees.
- Facebook Tried to Make Its Platform a Healthier Place. It Got Angrier Instead
Sept. 15, 2021 - Facebook Employees Flag Drug Cartels and Human Traffickers. The Company’s Response Is Weak, Documents Show
Sept. 16, 2021 - How Facebook Hobbled Mark Zuckerberg’s Bid to Get America Vaccinated
Sept. 17, 2021 - Facebook’s Effort to Attract Preteens Goes Beyond Instagram Kids, Documents Show
Sept. 28, 2021 - Facebook’s Documents About Instagram and Teens, Published
Sept. 29, 2021
Facebook (which owns Instagram) has studied how teen girls compared their own bodies to those they saw on Instagram. Here are the original documents of these studies. - Is Sheryl Sandberg’s Power Shrinking? Ten Years of Facebook Data Offers Clues
Oct. 1, 2021 - The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Says She Wants to Fix the Company, Not Harm It
Oct. 3, 2021 - Facebook Says AI Will Clean Up the Platform. Its Own Engineers Have Doubts
Oct. 17, 2021 - How Many Users Does Facebook Have? The Company Struggles to Figure It Out
Oct. 21, 2021
Facebook has a problem with people with multiple accounts, even though this is supposedly forbidden. Study of recent signups showed that between 32 and 56 percent came from existing users.Facebook’s estimates of the number of US users in their 20s often exceeds the total population in that age range, suggesting problems with their estimations or problems with duplicate accounts. And those duplicate accounts are often used to amplify problematic messages. This also creates a problem for advertisers who are spending their money in hopes of reaching very specific audiences. - Facebook Increasingly Suppresses Political Movements It Deems Dangerous
Oct. 22, 2021 - Facebook Services Are Used to Spread Religious Hatred in India, Internal Documents Show
Oct. 23, 2021 - Facebook’s Internal Chat Boards Show Politics Often at Center of Decision Making
Oct. 24, 2021