Social Network

Instagram

Image-first social comparison engine.

Photo and video sharing platform acquired by Facebook (now Meta) in 2012. Heavily oriented around visible engagement metrics including Likes, follower counts and view counts.

Documented Cognitive Harm Footprint

44

Harm Footprint

Moderate

A 2024 study found that exposure to Instagram images displaying many Likes produced significantly higher body dissatisfaction and social physique anxiety among young women, alongside reduced self-awareness when scrolling visible-metric feeds.

Harm Count
15 / 40
Severity
14 / 35
Reach
10 / 22
Mechanism
5 / 5

View on Graph → All Platforms

Documented Harms (3)

Reduced Self-Awareness

2024 young women

Visible-metric feeds were associated with reduced self-awareness during use, consistent with dissociative scrolling states.

Source: 2024 controlled study on Instagram Likes and body image

Social Physique Anxiety

2024 young women, adolescents

Exposure to Like-laden images produced elevated social physique anxiety; visible engagement metrics drive comparison pressure.

Source: 2024 controlled study on Instagram Likes and body image

Body Dissatisfaction

2024 young women

Exposure to high-Like images significantly increased body dissatisfaction in young women in a controlled study.

Source: 2024 controlled study on Instagram Likes and body image

Ownership & Accountability

Mark Zuckerberg Owner via Meta Platforms

What they say (Give)

Acquired Instagram and scaled it to a global creative platform.

What the public loses (Take)

Owns the platform documented to drive body dissatisfaction and social physique anxiety, particularly among young women.