Meta and the Center for Open Science (COS) announced a new pilot program that will offer researchers unprecedented access to Instagram user data. The initiative aims to study the relationship between social media use and well-being among teens and young adults.
The program responds to calls for more research on social media’s impact, including recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences Study Consensus Report on Social Media and Adolescent Health.
In 2021, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen released internal research suggesting that “teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.” Scientists subsequently called for Meta to make its mental health research more accessible. While Instagram has since introduced features intended to protect younger users, concerns persist, leading to numerous child safety bills and age verification laws across the United States.
“Parents, policymakers, academics, and technology companies are grappling with how best to support young people navigating online spaces, but we need more data to understand the full picture,” said Curtiss Cobb, Vice President of Research at Meta.
The research initiative focuses on four main areas:
Strength Comparisons: Examining potential positive and negative associations of Instagram use with teen social and emotional health.
National or Regional Comparisons: Investigating differences across countries or regions in how Instagram and other social media use correlate with teen and young adult well-being.
Social, Cultural, and Contextual Understanding: Comparing differences across large population groups in how Instagram and social media use relate to teen or young adult social and emotional health.
Explanations for Observed Associations: Exploring reasons behind statistical relationships between Instagram use and teen or young adult social and emotional health.
Tim Errington, Senior Director of Research at COS, stated, “This collaboration with Meta represents a significant step forward in fostering transparency and rigor in research.” The program employs the Registered Reports publishing model, which requires preregistration of hypotheses and early peer review of research designs.
This approach, popular in the open science movement, aims to enhance transparency and reduce publication bias. “Using the Registered Reports publishing model, we are setting new standards for how industry and academia can work together to produce credible, reproducible findings,” Errington added.
Meta plans to release a data User Guide in August detailing the Instagram data available to researchers. The pre-proposal submission portal will open following this release. Researchers will supplement the Instagram data with their study data on social and emotional health outcomes.
An Editorial Board of academic experts, managed by COS, will evaluate proposal content. Meta will remain blind to proposal submitters and content to maintain objectivity.
Cecilia Carloni, Interview Manager at Influence Weekly and writer for NetInfluencer. Coming from beautiful Argentina, Ceci has spent years chatting with big names in the influencer world, making friends and learning insider info along the way. When she’s not deep in interviews or writing, she's enjoying life with her two daughters. Ceci’s stories give a peek behind the curtain of influencer life, sharing the real and interesting tales from her many conversations with movers and shakers in the space.
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Meta and the Center for Open Science (COS) announced a new pilot program that will offer researchers unprecedented access to Instagram user data. The initiative aims to study the relationship between social media use and well-being among teens and young adults.
The program responds to calls for more research on social media’s impact, including recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences Study Consensus Report on Social Media and Adolescent Health.
In 2021, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen released internal research suggesting that “teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.” Scientists subsequently called for Meta to make its mental health research more accessible. While Instagram has since introduced features intended to protect younger users, concerns persist, leading to numerous child safety bills and age verification laws across the United States.
“Parents, policymakers, academics, and technology companies are grappling with how best to support young people navigating online spaces, but we need more data to understand the full picture,” said Curtiss Cobb, Vice President of Research at Meta.
The research initiative focuses on four main areas:
Tim Errington, Senior Director of Research at COS, stated, “This collaboration with Meta represents a significant step forward in fostering transparency and rigor in research.” The program employs the Registered Reports publishing model, which requires preregistration of hypotheses and early peer review of research designs.
This approach, popular in the open science movement, aims to enhance transparency and reduce publication bias. “Using the Registered Reports publishing model, we are setting new standards for how industry and academia can work together to produce credible, reproducible findings,” Errington added.
Meta plans to release a data User Guide in August detailing the Instagram data available to researchers. The pre-proposal submission portal will open following this release. Researchers will supplement the Instagram data with their study data on social and emotional health outcomes.
An Editorial Board of academic experts, managed by COS, will evaluate proposal content. Meta will remain blind to proposal submitters and content to maintain objectivity.