Parental controls don't curb social media use by teens: Meta
What's the story
A recent internal study by Meta, "Project MYST," has found that parental supervision and controls have little effect on teens' compulsive use of social media. The research was done in partnership with the University of Chicago and surveyed 1,000 teens and their parents about their social media habits. The findings were revealed during a testimony in a social media addiction trial last week at Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Research findings
Study results show no impact of parental supervision
The Project MYST study found that "parental and household factors have little association with teens' reported levels of attentiveness to their social media use." In other words, even with parental controls or household rules and supervision, it doesn't affect whether a child will overuse or use social media compulsively. Both parents and teens agreed on this front in the study, which suggests that these measures are ineffective in curbing excessive social media usage among teenagers.
Implications
Findings challenge effectiveness of parental controls
The findings of Project MYST challenge the effectiveness of built-in parental controls in Instagram and time limits on smartphones. The plaintiff's lawyer argued that these measures would not necessarily help teens become less inclined to overuse social media. The original complaint claims that teens are being exploited by social media products with flaws like algorithmic feeds designed to keep users scrolling, variable rewards that can manipulate dopamine delivery, incessant notifications, and deficient tools for parental controls.
Testimony
Instagram head claims ignorance about Project MYST
During his testimony, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri claimed he wasn't familiar with Meta's Project MYST, despite a document suggesting he had approved its progress. Mosseri said Meta conducts many research projects but could not recall anything specific about MYST beyond its name. The plaintiff's lawyer used this study as an example of why social media firms should be held accountable for their alleged harms, not parents.
Addiction correlation
Adverse life experiences linked to social media overuse
The Project MYST study also found that teens with more adverse life experiences, like alcoholic parents or harassment at school, were less attentive over their social media use. This suggests that kids facing trauma in their real lives are more at risk of addiction. Mosseri partially agreed with this finding, saying people often use Instagram as an escape from a more difficult reality.