All social media platforms have positives and negatives. Some are more harmful than others while other platforms can be beneficial. It's a difficult thing to measure though because everyone interacts with these sites differently. Snapchat, for example, can be a great way to stay in touch with friends and even family. In my community and at my age, Snapchat is the main method of not only communication within interpersonal relationships, but it can also be used to broadcast some type of media to everyone you are "friends" with. Similar to Snapchat, this could be a negative aspect of Instagram. This broadcasting of a photo or video gives off the illusion that one's life may be more glamourous than it really is. If other users don't recognize this, they will often compare themselves to the life that the person portrays. Instagram can also be beneficial for the spread of information and increase awareness of relevant issues. For example, in my community, many people will post links to news articles discussing a range of topics from environmental issues, to government spending.
I do think it would be beneficial for social networking sites to promote mental health. Instagram recently stopped displaying the amount of likes posts get which I think is a great step in the right direction. I do not think promoting mental health is the responsibility of the platform though. People choose to go on the sites and if they notice that the site negatively influences them, they should use it less. With that being said, many social networking sites find ways to make their platform more addictive. I think this is immoral and should not be allowed because it makes it difficult for those who are negatively affected by social media to quit. I'll include a link below for an article that discusses how social media is built to be addictive in depth.
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