February 7, 2025 Good morning! It's no surprise that Instagram isn't the best thing for young girls' self-esteem, but a new report reveals exactly how harmful it is — and that Facebook is totally aware. More on that below, plus my chat with the authors of an explosive book about what else Facebook has been hiding. We've also got helpful how-to guides for maintaining a healthy mindset, cobbling together a Halloween costume from your closet, and mastering your makeup like Bobbi Brown!
In the News A new investigation revealed Instagram's damaging effects on the well-being of teens. (Katie Couric Media/Getty Images) Instagram's Insidious Side Facebook knows its image-sharing app Instagram is toxic for teenage girls, but it has publicly downplayed the harmful effects, according to a new investigation by the Wall Street Journal. Here’s a breakdown of the disturbing findings in the company’s internal research on teen users:
What they studied: For the past three years, Facebook conducted focus groups, online surveys, and other studies to determine how Instagram, which it purchased in 2012 for $1 billion, impacts its millions of teen users.
What they found: The app’s addictive quality and a pressure to appear perfect on the platform “create a perfect storm” for teens, with the potential to trigger depression, eating disorders, and an unhealthy sense of their own bodies, researchers said. One in three teen girls reported that Instagram made their body image issues worse. Another study of teens with suicidal thoughts found 13% of teen users in the U.K. and 6% of U.S. teens could trace those harmful ideations back to Instagram.
What they said: Facebook has publicly played down the app’s negative impact (a pattern among the company’s leadership, which I recently learned about in a revealing interview). At a congressional hearing in March, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (who has reportedly seen the studies), said: “The research that we’ve seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental-health benefits.”
What they’re doing to address it: The app experimented with hiding the number of “likes” on posts in an initiative called Project Daisy. They found it didn’t change how teens felt, but rolled it out anyway to show that “Instagram cares about its users,” Facebook execs wrote in an internal note. Company researchers also said they’re working on a way to ask people if they’d like a break from the app, but they’re struggling to identify the users most at-risk. California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to union workers and volunteers on September 14. (Getty Images) More Stories:
Daily Special On edge about whether it’s safe to attend large gatherings, eat indoors, go to the office, or travel on public transportation again? With Covid-19 variants popping up, lots of us are fretting about which activities we can safely partake in. If you’re feeling uncertain about the world opening up, that anxiety is understandable. We asked Bea Harris, a clinical psychologist and Humana’s Director of Human Behavior, to give us six tips for soothing some of your worries. It all starts with taking control of what you can.
The Eyes Have It We love the bold, unexpected colors taking center stage this fall, but it can be challenging to take those kinds of on-trend looks and make them your own — especially with makeup. Enter Bobbi Brown, our go-to beauty guru. She prefers a "natural, effortless look," so she's got amazing advice for bringing some fun to your face without going overboard.
For the eyes, Bobbi loves this powder eyeshadow in shades of pink and almond, which are flattering on everyone. She's also a fan of adding a wink with the color of your eyeliner using this fantastic pencil in navy. These tools are great for experimenting without steering too far away from your classic look.
To learn how to master a playful lip and blissful blush, check out Bobbi's full tutorial for expert tips guaranteed to make you look gorgeous.
The Lighter Side
Final Words David Rubenstein’s interviews with the world’s foremost historians, business leaders, and diplomats always leave us with new lessons about our culture, so we asked him to tell us about something he discovered while working on his new book, The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream.
"I learned an amazing thing from Harvard history professor Jill Lepore: There was no American history textbook written by a woman until Jill wrote an incredible 900-page volume," Rubenstein tells us. "She recounts an anecdote of a kindergarten class that was studying key figures in the American Revolution — all men, it turns out. She asked why they were not learning about any women, and one of the students said, 'Because there were no women then.'"
There's no shortage of inspiring women in The American Experiment, which also spotlights game-changing figures like Billie Jean King, Madeleine Albright, and Rita Moreno. From civil rights to public health to immigration, tons of eye-opening lessons await in this highly recommended read.
See you tomorrow! ![]() Have questions or comments? Email us at info@katiecouric.com!
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