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Meta Study: Parental Controls Fail Teens on Social Media
18 Feb
Summary
- Meta study suggests parental controls have little impact on teen social media use.
- Study found stressful life events linked to teens' inability to self-regulate.
- Plaintiff in trial accuses social media firms of creating addictive products.
An internal Meta research study, Project MYST, conducted with the University of Chicago, has revealed that parental supervision and controls appear to have little impact on children's compulsive social media use. This study's findings were disclosed during a social media addiction trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawsuit, brought forth by a plaintiff identified as Kaley and others, accuses social media companies of designing addictive and dangerous products that have led to severe mental health issues among young users.
Project MYST, which stands for Meta and Youth Social Emotional Trends, surveyed 1,000 teens and their parents. Its conclusions indicated that parental and household factors showed little association with teens' attentiveness to social media. Essentially, even with parental controls or household rules, children's overuse of social media remained unaffected, according to the study. This suggests that built-in parental controls on apps like Instagram may not effectively reduce teens' inclination for excessive social media engagement.
Furthermore, the study noted a correlation between teens experiencing a higher number of adverse life events and reduced attentiveness to their social media use. This implies that children facing real-life trauma might be at greater risk of social media addiction. Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, testified that he was unfamiliar with Project MYST, despite documents suggesting his approval. He stated that Meta uses the term 'problematic use' rather than 'addiction' for excessive engagement.
Attorneys for Meta contended that the study focused narrowly on perceived overuse rather than actual addiction. They also sought to attribute negative emotional states in children like Kaley to parental responsibilities and life stressors, such as divorced parents or school bullying, rather than the companies' products. The jury's interpretation of these study findings and testimonies is pending, with the study's results having not been publicly released.
