Celebrities Have A Bad Influence On Their Followers On Instagram, Here's The Explanation

Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber's posts are considered to have a bad influence on their followers. (photo: instagram)

JAKARTA - The world's major social media stars, including Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Charli D'Amelio, are a list of celebrities who are said to have made their Instagram followers experience more negative feelings about their self-image. This was revealed according to internal Facebook research revealed by the Wall Street Journal this week. The study raised questions about the cultural impact of online celebrities.

The WSJ released a number of leaked research slides on Wednesday, September 29, which formed the basis of an article published earlier this month. The study found that Facebook knew its app was endangering the mental health of some teenage girls and young users.

The study, entitled "Social Comparison on Instagram," surveyed 100.000 people in March and April 2020 in nine countries, including the United States, Australia, and Brazil.

Based on internal company data, Facebook spokesman Kevin McAlister said survey respondents were not asked to name specific accounts, but researchers found celebrity accounts were "some of the most viewed accounts for people who told us they experienced negative levels of social comparison higher or lower on Instagram."

He noted the findings make sense given that the listed celebrities each have more than 30 million followers.

Facebook researchers did not study whether users' exposure to celebrity accounts led to negative feelings about themselves.

According to Facebook researchers, singer Ariana Grande and model Kendall Jenner are among the celebrities whose followers perceive more negative social comparisons.

Facebook researchers noted on the slide deck that the company could partner with stars in the campaign to reduce negative comparisons.

On the other hand, the Instagram account of "The Ellen Show," hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, American actor Will Smith and Brazilian soccer player Neymar has followers who feel "less negative in comparison," according to the research slide deck.

This finding is significant given that Instagram helped pioneer the rise of social media influencers and made efforts to recruit celebrities to the app in the early days of its launch.

Actor Ashton Kutcher is one of the stars who helped Instagram gain credibility with other celebrities and helped introduce the company to Grande, according to an anecdote reported 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 increase their presence on Instagram, according to several employees' LinkedIn bios.

Facebook researchers found that seeing more celebrity content on Instagram feeds was associated with more negative comparisons. Nearly half of the content people view on Instagram comes from celebrities, according to the study.