Facebook admits it
poses mental health risk – but says using site more can help
 |
| Zuckerberg |
Company acknowledges ‘passive’
consumption of material can make people ‘feel
worse’ but argues more engagement
could improve wellbeing
Facebook has acknowledged that
social media use can be bad for users’ mental health, a sign the company is
feeling pressure from a growing chorus of critics raising alarms about the
platform’s effect on society.
Researchers for the social network
admitted in a blogpost Friday
that studies have found that spending time on Facebook “passively consuming
information” can leave people “feeling worse”, but also argued that part of the
solution is to engage and interact more with people on the platform.
The company’s public recognition of
some of its platform’s detrimental effects came days after a former Facebook
executive made headlines with a speech slamming the corporation, saying:
“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are
destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation,
misinformation, mistruth.”
The blogpost, which also announced
new tools meant to mitigate some of the negative experiences on Facebook, came
at the end of a year of intense scrutiny and bad press for the company.
Facebook has repeatedly been accused of spreading Russian propaganda and fake
news, providing a platform and network for white supremacists, enabling
hate speech and offensive ads and censoring critics of oppressive
governments.
The company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg,
has asked for forgiveness and claimed his new mission was
to “bring the world closer together”.
Studies have repeatedly found that
Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites can damage the emotional
wellbeing of heavy users, particularly younger people. The new post from
Facebook’s director of research, David Ginsberg, and the research scientist
Moira Burke painted the literature on the subject as mixed and inconclusive,
arguing that Facebook use can also have positive mental health impacts.
Ginsberg and Burke claimed
that “actively interacting with people – especially sharing messages, posts and
comments with close friends and reminiscing about past interactions – is linked
to improvements in well-being”. They cited one study suggesting that students
who scrolled through their own Facebook profiles experienced “boosts in
self-affirmation” compared with others who looked at strangers’ pages.
The
authors, however, also pointed to a study finding that people who clicked on
four times as many links as the average person on Facebook reported worse
mental health. The blog further acknowledged that reading about others online
might lead to “negative social comparison” and that some theorize that the
internet takes people away from in-person social engagement.
The
post also referenced a psychologist’s claims that mobile phones have redefined
modern relationships, making people “alone together”, and another expert’s
arguments that an increase in teen depression is linked to technology
use.
On
Friday, Facebook launched a new feature called Snooze, which allows users
to hide a person, page or group for 30 days without having to unfollow or
unfriend them: “This will give people more control over their feed and
hopefully make their experience more positive.”
The
company also unveiled a tool called Take a Break, meant to help users
going through break-ups, recognizing that seeing an ex-partner’s social media
activities can be emotionally painful. The new feature gives people
control over what they can see of their exes on Facebook and what their exes can
see on their pages.
“In
sum, our research and other academic literature suggests that it’s about how
you use social media that matters when it comes to your well-being,” the blog
authors wrote, adding a quote from Zuckerberg, saying: “We want the time people
spend on Facebook to encourage meaningful social interactions.”
Zuckerberg also claimed last
month that he believed “protecting our community is more important than
maximizing our profits”.
Facebook,
however, has continually prioritized features designed to make the
platform addictive and has allowed users to instantaneously purchase harmful
ads without scrutiny. The company has also struggled to stop the spread of offensive
live videos on the platform, some featuring graphic abuse and violence.
On
Thursday, Chamath Palihapitiya, the former executive who criticized the
company, walked back his comments, saying: “I genuinely believe that
Facebook is a force for good in the world.”
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