Email: Nielsen Study Findings

Internal document

Raw text

Transcribed text as recorded, including headers and formatting fragments.

Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2885-33 Filed 03/26/26 Page 1 of 4 AMENDED Exhibit 93 PLAINTIFFS' OMNIBUS OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Case No.: 4:22-md-03047-YGR MDL No. 3047 In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2885-33 Filed 03/26/26 Page 2 of 4 Message From: [/O=THEFACEBOOK/OU=EXTERNAL (FYDIBOHF25SPDLT)/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=48FFC3C46115436F92DE45122112497D] 10/26/2020 9:36:51 PM Sent: To: Subject: Fw: A/C Priv -- Nielsen Study Findings Fyi From: Alex Schultz Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 2:30 PM To: Nick Clegg Cc: Joel Kaplan a Chris Cox Pratiti Raychoudhury Curtiss Cobb Andrew Bosworth Subject: RE: A/C Priv -- Nielsen Study Findings I actually think that there is a need to publish this ourselves so we have some chance to shape the narrative. Given there is another study as part of ERC that will come out with the same conclusions and no chance. I definitely wouldn't try and stretch the conclusions too far. I would also say the effect is small although negative. Alex From: Nick Clegg Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 11:27 AM To: Cc: Pratiti Raychoudhury Curtiss Cobb Chris Cox ; Alex Schultz Joel Kaplan Andrew Bosworth Subject: Re: A/C Priv -- Nielsen Study Findings + Chris, Boz, Alex and others re the various ongoing discussions on research etc Thanks - much looking forward to discussing this further. In the meantime, can you clarify exactly in what way the USA 2020 election study will be seeking to replicate this deactivation study? I hadn't fully realized that well-being was going to be examined so prominently alongside the core political behaviors/attitudes focus of the USA 2020 study? I'm also keen to understand the distinctions being drawn here: whilst I understand this study seems to suggest that the media narrative around FB heavily shapes people's perceptions of their own use of FB, if the net effect is that not using HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL (COMPETITOR) META3047MDL-165-00000428 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2885-33 Filed 03/26/26 Page 3 of 4 FB makes some people feel better (in some respects) is it really possible to claim that the effect is all due to media conditioning/perception? For obvious reasons, our critics will be quick to claim that we are trying to shift responsibility from our own products to the media. There may well be a case to do so - it certainly looks like it from this study - but we need to really stress test how we explain and assert that before deciding how/when to publish. Thx n From: Date: Friday, October 23, 2020 at 5:24 PM To: Nick Clegg Cc: 1 >, Pratiti Raychoudhury Curtiss Cobb Subject: A/C Priv -- Nielsen Study Findings Dear Nick, We finally have the results from the pilot stage of the Nielsen deactivation study (the study you helped us unblock from XFN in 2019). The study is the company's first attempt to estimate the causal impact of Facebook on well-being related outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, loneliness, social comparison, political polarization, and meaningful interactions) in an effort to (a) continue building products that add value to people's lives and (b) to assess the criticisms levied at the company by external critics. In the study, we ran two waves of an experiment (the first in the Fall of 2019 and the second Spring of this year) to estimate the impact of people not using the Facebook app for one week on well-being related outcomes. The main findings of the study are: 1. People who stopped using Facebook for a week reported an improvement in certain types of emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison), but no change in other outcomes (e.g., political polarization, or meaningful interactions). 2. Most of the effects we found are linked to people's beliefs about Facebook. For example, the reductions in feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness associated with deactivation appeared mostly among participants who believed (prior to participating in the study) that Facebook was bad for them. The main implication of our findings: External criticisms highlighting the negative impact of the company products on well-being related outcomes may be overblown. For example, if beliefs are the result of the existing media narrative around the company, the findings in the Nielsen study, and similar external work, will overestimate the true effect of Facebook (akin to placebo effects). The report with the full details of study is available here. Next steps for the Research team: Based on the feedback we have received from others, we are: HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL (COMPETITOR) META3047MDL-165-00000429 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2885-33 Filed 03/26/26 Page 4 of 4 1. Exploring whether to make the results of the study public. 1. This is worth considering because the US 2020 study relies on outcomes similar to the ones we used, and they are likely to find similar results as ours. Making the Nielsen study public can help us provide nuance to the interpretation of these findings emphasizing the potential role of people's beliefs. To determine it is worth proceeding with this option we need to: 1. Conduct additional analyses to understand whether beliefs reflect people's ability to determine what is good or bad for them, or whether they reflect the broader media narrative surrounding the company. 2. Contextualize the effects in relation to studies in this space. 3. Assess whether we need to run a one-month deactivation study. One comment we have received is that a one-week deactivation study may not be long enough for us to be able to uncover the real effect of Facebook on outcomes like polarization. However, the risk of running a longer study is that we are unlikely to have any new findings, and thus the one-week intervention may be sufficient to illustrate the role of expectations. 2. Working with Comms to determine the timing and framework under which we would make the study public if we chose to do so. 3. Examining the set of interventions we should focus on in the future as we continue to research the impact of Facebook on well-being related outcomes. This involves exploring interventions where people's expectations are less of a challenge when estimating the impact of Facebook (and its products) on different outcomes. We are working to set up a meeting with you next week to discuss this study as well as the well-being strategy project our team is working on (more on that will come next week). In the meantime, please feel free to send over any thoughts, questions, or feedback you have. We look forward to discussing more. Best, and Research Scientist Demography and Survey Science HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL (COMPETITOR) META3047MDL-165-00000430