An internal investigation conducted by Instagram and obtained by The Wall Street Journal indicates that the company is aware of the impact social networking has on the mental health of younger people.

Instagram recognizes negative impact on the mental health of younger people

“We make the issues of body image worse for one in three girls”, can be read in one of the conclusions of this research. What’s more, the findings indicate that, among teenagers in the US and the UK, 40% say they started to feel unattractive after starting to use Instagram.

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Instagram’s findings indicate that the social network has become a “social comparison” tool for younger girls who, exposed to photographs of idealized (and often unrealistic) bodies, are negatively impacted.

The findings of this investigation come to light at a difficult time for Facebook, when the company has been heavily criticized for wanting to launch a children’s version of Instagram.