An internal survey by Meta identified something that many already suspected: the company’s products — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — can easily contribute to user isolation. The survey, carried out in 2018 and leaked along with the rest of the Facebook Papers, points out that more than a third of Facebook users (36%) said they had “felt lonely” during the month before the survey was applied.
The Facebook Papers, for those who don’t remember, was the leak carried out by the company’s former product manager, Frances Haugen, and which shed light on the problems faced by the company not only in the field of users’ mental health, but mainly in ethical dilemmas. business.
After the leak, Frances was even invited by the government of Joe Biden to participate in the State of the Union speech, where the current president of the United States stressed the need to “hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they are carrying out on our children. in the name of profit”.
The survey was carried out with 53 people, considering in-depth interviews applied to identify user interaction and behavior issues.
Also according to the study, loneliness was found to be more common among 13-24 year olds, which is one of the top demographic groups for Facebook and Instagram. Loneliness, the study also points out, was more common among men.
Other study notes
Another survey, also from 2018 and also leaked in Facebook Papers, points out that the time spent on the social network is also an important factor to be considered. While social media can help promote isolation in some cases, in others it can help people feel better.
About 41% of users who are already lonely, turning to Facebook reported that it made them feel better. Only 6% said it made them feel worse.
Also remembering that Facebook is not the only Zuckerberg network to enter this classification. Last December, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, was called to testify in the United States, also on account of the Facebook Papers and about the possible harm that the social network could cause to teenagers.
In the leaked documents, Instagram’s product design teams were researching ways to increase the frequency and duration of kids’ and teens’ engagement on Instagram. A Wall Street Journal report that even published details of the leaked documents showed that the company carried out the research and had even “identified the harmful effects of Instagram” on the mental health of teenagers, mentioning that the platform’s algorithm promotes engagements “at any time”. cost”.
Facebook and Instam, in the sights of regulation
During the pandemic, this scenario became even more latent and for that same reason, the company focused on a dilemma that is still unanswered: how to keep the company’s user base growing, without increasing loneliness?
The study’s inconclusive results increase the company’s challenge to find a way out to promote product changes that can, in fact, benefit Facebook users.
So this answer is still non-existent. For the time being, the company has faced scrutiny from regulatory bodies and is also working on its own internal battle not to lose more users on Facebook – noting that in the last presentation to investors, Mark Zuckerberg said that the social platform, for the first time, registered a drop in the number of users and, consequently, Meta lost millions as a result of this scenario.
Via: TechXplore and Wall Street Journal
