Student Research Guide WQ23/ Harmful Effects of Instagram on Teenage Girls

Top 10 Sources:

• INTERNET SOURCE: Blystone, Dan. "Instagram: What It Is, Its History, and How the Popular App Works." Investopedia, 22 Oct. 2022, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102615/story-instagram-rise-1-photo0sharing-app.asp.

  • This source is useful because it addresses the general history of Instagram and the workings of it, which gives an understanding of Instagram as a whole before trying to understand its harms. It also gives an insight into the creators of Instagram and the motivation behind the app, which begins to address the issue. This is a reputable source that provides valuable background information to the topic as a whole. 

     

• INTERNET SOURCE: Cramer, Shirley, and Inkster, Becky. "#StatusOfMind: Social media and young people's mental health and wellbeing." Royal Society for Public Health, May 2017, https://www.rsph.org.uk/static/uploaded/d125b27c-0b62-41c5-a2c0155a8887cd01.pdf.
  • This source is helpful because it discusses the impacts of social media (including Instagram) on young minds from the perspective of the users themselves. This study includes a self-reporting survey where users of social media platforms describe their own feelings about the platforms. This is a reputable, substantive source that provides primary evidence and both sides of the issue.

• INTERNET SOURCE: Elsesser, Kim. "Here's How Instagram Harms Young Women According To Research." Forbes, 5 Oct. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2021/10/05/heres-how-instagram-harms-young-women-according-to-research/?sh=7dbff6c6255a.
  • This source is useful because it discusses eleven specific ways Instagram harms young women/teenage girls. This is a credible, substantive source that addresses several areas of the issue and provides evidence to back up its claims. 

• INTERNET SOURCE: Harrison, Theo. "Negative Effects of Instagram On Mental Health: 7 Ways Instagram Ruins Lives." Minds Journal, https://themindsjournal.com/instagram-mental-health-ruins-lives/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2023.

  • This source provides several pieces of information backed up by studies done that aren't featured in the other sources. This is helpful because it gives insights into other areas of the issue and describes both broad and narrow impacts of Instagram. This source is substantive and discusses its claims in ways that assist with research on this topic.

     

• INTERNET SOURCE: Hwnag, Ha Sung. "Why Social Media Comparison on Instagram Matters: Its impact on Depression." KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 3, 31 Mar. 2019, pp 1626-38. Korea Science, http://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO201914260133566.view.

  • This source is useful because it discusses a specific aspect of the issue - the correlation between depression, Instagram, and social comparison. This source discusses the different types of social comparison on Instagram and relates them to their effect on depression. This source is credible, substantive, and informative, providing information that is backed by several studies done by other groups.

     

• EBSCOHOST DATABASE: Kaura, Heena, and Saini, Sarita. "Relationship between social media usage and emotional intelligence among adolescents." Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, vol. 11, no. 10-12, 2020, pp. 581-84. EBSCOhost, https://web-s-ebscohost-com.skagit.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=d3fab23d-47d4-4220-a6ee-4746a73b5905%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=148893801&db=a9h.

  • This is a substantive, scholarly source that discusses a broader impact of social media on adolescent thinking. This source primarily addresses social intelligence in teenagers related to social media and provides helpful insights into several social media impacts that also apply to Instagram.

     

• INTERNET SOURCE: Macmillan, Amanda. "Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health." Time, 25 May 2017, https://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/.
  • This source is helpful because it breaks down a study done by another source into comprehensive fragments, and really dives deep into the results of the study, giving excellent perspective on the results. This is a credible source that enhances understanding of Instagram compared to other social media platforms.

• PROQUEST DATABASE: Wells, Georgia, et al. "Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show." Wall Street Journal, 14 Sept. 2021. Proquest, https://skagit.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/facebook-files-knows-instagram-is-toxic-teen/docview/2572410901/se-2?accountid=1131.
  • This source is useful because it not only discusses Facebook's involvement in the harms of Instagram, but gives several specific accounts of teenage girls whose lives have been negatively altered due to Instagram. This is a reputable, substantive source that provides much insight to the issue of Instagram and the mental health of teenage girls.

• INTERNET SOURCE: Wong, Queenie. "Instagram Faces More Allegations That It's 'Addictive' and 'Harmful'." CNET, 26 July 2022, https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/instagram-faces-more-allegations-that-its-addictive-and-harmful/. 
  • This source is useful because it covers some of the legal aspects of Instagram's operation. This source discusses several lawsuits against Instagram and gives specific examples what teenage girls are suffering through that spurred the lawsuits. This is a reputable source that provides an unbiased view of this issue.

• INTERNET SOURCE: Yurdagül, Cemil, et al. "Psychopathological Consequences Related to Problematic Instagram Use Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Body Image Dissatisfaction and Moderating Role of Gender." International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, vol. 19, no. 5, Oct. 2021, pp. 1385-97. SpringerLink, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00071-8.
  • This source is useful because it provides a deep dive into a very specific area of the issue and gives a detailed account of the methodology of its own studies. This is a credible, substantive source that references many other studies and provides a credible look into body image concerns with Instagram. 

Recommended Search Terms/Phrases:

• Instagram harmful effects
• Instagram and teen* girls
• Instagram body image issues
• Instagram negative effects
• Instagram history
• Social media and Instagram