Sept 30 (Reuters) – Top social media stars including Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Charlie Di Amelio are among the celebrities whose Instagram followers experience negative feelings about their self-image, Facebook’s internal website reported. (FB.O) Research published by the Wall Street Journal this week raises questions about the influence of celebrity culture online.
The magazine released the leaked research slide kits on Wednesday, which served as the basis for articles it published earlier this month stating that Facebook knows its apps are harming the mental health of some teenage girls and young users.
The survey, titled “Instagram Social Comparison,” surveyed 100,000 people in March and April 2020 in nine countries, including the United States, Australia and Brazil.
Facebook spokesperson Kevin McAllister said survey respondents were not asked to name specific accounts, but the researchers found that celebrity accounts “were among the most viewed accounts of people who told us they had higher or lower levels of negative social interaction.” Comparison on Instagram”, based on the company’s internal data.
He noted that the results made sense because the mentioned celebrities had more than 30 million followers.
The Facebook researchers did not investigate whether users’ exposure to these celebrity accounts led to negative feelings about themselves.
Facebook researchers found that singer Ariana Grande and model Kendall Jenner were among the celebrities who felt the most negative social comparison.
Facebook researchers at Slide Groups note that the company may engage stars in campaigns to reduce negative comparisons.
On the other hand, the Instagram accounts of “The Ellen Show,” hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, American actor Will Smith and Brazilian soccer player Neymar, had followers the research group found “a less negative comparison.”
The results have been impressive, with Instagram contributing to the emergence of social media influencers and early efforts to recruit celebrities for the app.
Actor Ashton Kutcher was one of the stars who helped Instagram gain credibility with other celebrities and helped introduce the company to Grande, according to an anecdote published in the book “No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram.”
The company’s partnership team is also working with celebrities, musicians and other public figures to improve their presence on Instagram, according to some employees’ LinkedIn bios.
Facebook researchers found that viewing more celebrity content in an Instagram feed correlated with more negative comparisons.
Research has shown that nearly half of the content people see on Instagram comes from celebrities.
(Sheila Dang reports in Dallas); Editing by Leslie Adler
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