Some scholars have said that Mark Zuckerberg needs to be more open with the results of Meta’s studies on the impact of social media on children and teenagers’ mental health. In an open letter published on Monday, a request is being made for the company to allow independent analysis of its research, give data to outside research projects, and set up a group of scientists to keep an eye on the work.
Research on children and adolescents must be aligned with recognised standards of evidence in the field of mental health science, claimed the open letter which was signed by researchers from institutions around the world.
According to the letter, some internal Facebook studies suggested that the social media platform Instagram was associated with anxiety and body image concerns in some adolescent females after data from Meta was exposed. There was some limited research that was released, though. It was based on subjective information that was found through interviews. Although this technique can provide valuable insights, it cannot conclusively show that social media was the cause of any of the negative mental health outcomes.
It looks like the studies Facebook researchers did don’t meet academic standards for how trials are done, the letter claims. The researchers also claimed that the evidence provided is really not comprehensive because Meta has neither made its research methodologies nor data public, and so it isn’t valid. It would be good for Zuckerberg and his team to let the public look at its previous and future research, which would include giving out research materials and data.
In addition, Meta was requested in the letter to submit its data to current independent studies on teenage mental health. Major Tech companies have long been criticised for their refusal to make data available to outside academics, making it difficult for them to analyse and comprehend their own technologies. Studying how young people engage online will be critical to identifying and encouraging mental health in the twenty-first century, the authors claim.
There isn’t enough information from Meta to say for sure if or how social media platforms affect mental health, but the leaks, along with other research on social media, raise enough issues to warrant more research.
The authors stressed that understanding how internet life impacts children and teenagers is a significant issue. There is a lot of scepticism about Meta because of the way they’ve done the research so far. This is “somewhat predictable,” the authors of the open letter said. They said that other people, like legislators, were also concerned. It might help if you follow the steps the authors suggest. They say that doing so could help clear up those issues and give a more complete picture of mental health online.
Using Meta’s data “could change how we think about digital technology use and its effect on mental health in ways we have never seen before,” the letter affirms.
