Meta & Children's Online SafetySocial Comparison on Instagram
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Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 1 of 49 AMENDED Exhibit 127 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 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 2 of 49 Document Provided in Native Format HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL (COMPETITOR) META3047MDL-020-00082810 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 3 of 49 SOCIAL COMPARISON ON INSTAGRAM Wellbeing Research Nov, 2018 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 4 of 49 MASS MEDIA SHOW TREMENDOUS INTEREST IN SOCIAL COMPARISON ON OUR PLATFORM Che New ork Eimes The Agony of Instagram For many urban creative professionals these days, it's not unusual to scroll through one's Instagram feed and feel suffocated by fabulousness: Do You Have BY SHANNON DOYNE 'Instagram Envy'? DECEMBER 16, 2013 5:08 AM Most people realize it's not healthy to compare themselves to other people but — social media presents abundant opportunities to do exactly that. 2 Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/fashion/instagram.html https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/do-you-have-instagram-envy/ THE ACADEMIC LITERATURE ALSO Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 5 of 49 PREDOMINATELY FOCUSES ON THE NEGATIVES = = =~ T ~ o ~ y, "social comparison" instagram ( \ \ About 2,020 results (0.08 sec) ? 4 • Focused on negative ~ = outcomes: depression, loneliness, envy… Instagram# instasad?: exploring associations among instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed K Lup, L Trub, L Rosenthal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social - 2075 liebertpub.com ..., - • Highlight teens, especially As the use and influence of social networking continues to grow, researchers have begun to explore its consequences for psychological well-being. Some research suggests that teen girls Facebook use can have negative consequences for well-being. Instagram, a photo-sharing ... Cited Related articles All 10 versions 2 • Hot topics: body image, no. Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women's mood and of likes / followers, body image perfection as standard, 2 Brown, M liggemann Body image, 2016 - - Elsevier inauthenticity body dissatisfaction. It was concluded that exposure to attractive celebrity and peer ... images can be detrimental towomen's body image. Keywords. Body image. Celebrity. Peer. Instagram. Media. Social comparison. Introduction ... wr «OY «6Cited by Related articles AllS versions 3 Source: Google Scholar Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 6 of 49 "So many of the behaviors we're talking about have pre-digital corollaries," says Weinstein, a digital media researcher at Harvard, "They're the same sort of developmental challenges that adolescents have grappled with for decades, though now they're taking place in different spaces that can certainly amplify them and shift their quality, quantity, and scale. Or, do they? If so, how? 4 Source: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/12/social-media-and-teen-anxiety Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 7 of 49 AS THE FIRST STUDY ON SOCIAL COMPARISON AT IG, THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO… 1 Quantify social comparison's prevalence, and identify who's most susceptible 2 Pinpoint triggers for social comparison 3 Evaluate social comparison's relationship with authentic expression 4 Assess impact of social comparison on engagement with IG, wellbeing, and emotions 5 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 8 of 49 WHAT WE DID Quantitative Qualitative SURVEY LOG DATA INTERVIEW • 7 key markets • Matched with survey data • 14 pair interviews of daily active users and habitual users • 5,793 completes • Time spent • 13 females and 15 males; 15- • Conducted in Oct 2018 • Engagement level 24 years old • Tenure on IG • Conducted face-to-face in MPK and LA in September 2018 Note: for interview findings, please see here for details: https://fb.facebook.com/notes eeping-up-with-the-joneses-in-the-digital-age-interview-findings-from- 6 instagram/147143206237714/ Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 9 of 49 SURVEY • A branded email survey of a randomly selected sample of monthly active users (L28>1) From: Instagram Research Stratified sampling in 7 key markets; Sample is then To: Hide • weighted based on country Instagram would love to hear from Country Male Female NA Total you | BR 167 301 110 578 Today at 3:35 PM CA 167 372 167 706 FR 278 683 229 1,190 GB JA 231 258 482 445 188 191 901 894 (OC) Instagram MX 204 265 112 581 Hello , US 230 544 169 943 Total 1,535 3,092 1,166 5,793 Instagram uses feedback directly from people like you to improve the app. This survey should take no longer than 3 minutes of your time and will help us improve Instagram for you and the Instagram community. Age Male Female NA Total Your information will be used for research purposes only. We 13-17 134 510 38 682 will not share your personally identifiable information with anyone outside of Instagram. You can learn more in our Data 18-24 260 737 26 1,023 Use Policy. 25-34 279 631 26 936 Thanks, 35-44 320 494 22 836 The Instagram Research Team 45-54 290 400 21 711 55 + 246 311 21 578 missing 6 9 1012 1,027 Total 1,535 3,092 1,166 5,793 See Data Use Policy Note: "NA" includes selection of "other" to gender, "prefer not to tell", and missing values 7 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 10 of 49 TL;DR WHAT WE FOUND 1. PREVALENCE • Social comparison is common on IG. 51% of people experience social comparison on IG. They either compare their accomplishments to others or observe other people to decide how they should act "sometimes" or more often. • Women and teens are more prone to social comparison, especially negative social comparison. 2. TRIGGERS Negative social comparison is triggered mostly by photo/video, in particular regarding beauty, fitness, fashion, travel, and romantic relationships, posted by weak ties such as celebrities, strangers, and acquaintances. 3. AUTHENTICITY Social comparison is associated with pressure to be perfect and less freedom to express true-self. 4. IMPACT • Negative social comparison reduces engagement with IG. • Negative social comparison lowers well-being (loneliness, life satisfaction, self worth, and self efficacy), and people with lower well-being may be more prone to negative social comparison. • Most people (38%) report that the upsetting feeling caused by negative social comparison only lasted for "less than a few minutes" when it happened last time, however the cumulative duration is substantial: 33% of people have been feeling worse about themselves on IG for "several months to a year". 8 TL;DR PRODUCT Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 11 of 49 IMPLICATIONS 1 What if we give people more control of the types of contents they want to see, e.g. feed filters: "show me more of the content that I liked"; "show me content like this only once a week"? What if we give people more control of what they want to share with whom, e.g. some shared privately 2 within a group; some shared publicly? -- so that fewer people would be exposed to "luxurious lifestyle from random people" 3 What if IG suggests photo filters selectively, e.g. only to certain types of photos such as landscape (low risk to trigger social comparison) but not to people portraits (major trigger for social comparison)? 4 What if we launch campaigns such as "No Filter Friday", hashtag "#beyoutrueself" to promote authentic expression on IG? 9 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 12 of 49 ROADMAP 1. How prevalent is social comparison, and who's most susceptible? 2. What triggers negative social comparison on IG? 3. How does social comparison relate to authentic expression? 4. What's the impact of social comparison? On engagement with IG On wellbeing On emotion 10 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 13 of 49 1.1. HOW PREVALENT IS SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG? Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 14 of 49 SOCIAL COMPARISON IS HUMAN NATURE AND IT IS A VALUE NEUTRAL CONCEPT What is "social comparison"? Hypothesis I: There exists, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities. Hypothesis II: To the extent that objective, non-social means are not available, people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparison respectively with the opinions and abilities of others. -----"A Theory of Social Comparison Processes" (Festinger 1954) 12 Citation: Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202 WE MEASURE SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG BY Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 15 of 49 ASKING…. Always, Often, Sometimes 1. compare your own accomplishments to those of other people? Social On Instagram, Rarely, Never or how often do comparison you... on IG Always, Often, Respondents who answer Sometimes "always", "often", or 2. observe what other people are "sometimes" to either of doing to decide how you should these two questions are counted as they do social act? comparison. Rarely, Never Note: These questions are modified based on the widely cited Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Scale, see Gibbons, F.X. & Buunk, B.P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: The development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 129-142. 13 SIMILARLY, WE MEASURE SOCIAL Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 16 of 49 COMPARISON IN EVERYDAY LIFE BY ASKING…. Always, Often, Sometimes 1. compare your own accomplishments to those of other people? Social In your everyday Rarely, Never or life, how often comparison in do you... everyday life Always, Often, Respondents who answer Sometimes "always", "often", or 2. observe what other people are "sometimes" to either of doing to decide how you should these two questions are counted as they do social act? comparison. Rarely, Never Note: These questions are modified based on the widely cited Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Scale, see Gibbons, F.X. & Buunk, B.P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: The development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 129-142. 14 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 17 of 49 51% OF OUR USERS DO SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG COMPARED TO 67% IN EVERYDAY LIFE Overall social comparison prevalence from survey data However, in our interviews… So what? Most respondents say that social comparison happens more often online than in real life, because respondents • This is the first and only think that: data point available on IG On social comparison. More IG 49% 51% 51% of • posting on Instagram is a very deliberate process data are needed to better where the posters curate their profiles: "People put compare prevalence respondents online vs. offline. their best on Instagram to make them look in certain do social ways (Nicole, 23, Female)" N=5,495 comparison • Facebook is running a on IG vs 67% • audience can scrutinize the posts: "You can take parallel survey with the in everyday your time and sit on someone's profile for as long as exact questions, which will you want, whereas in real life, it would be weird to provide more data to life Everyday stop and stare at someone for 10 minutes or to ask compare online vs offline. 33% them a bunch of questions about their lives (Zack, life 21, Male)" • Note that people might under report due to social 67% • the exposure to information is more extensive than in desirability bias real life: "More on Instagram, coz you can see people N=5,634 all around the world ( 16, Male)." Note: The Social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. 15 WE FURTHER DIFFERENTIATE POSITIVE AND Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 18 of 49 NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG BY ASKING… Always, Often, Negative social Sometimes comparison on IG 1. feel worse about yourself after comparing yourself to someone else? Rarely, Never No negative SC on On Instagram, IG how often do you... Always, Often, Positive social Sometimes comparison on IG 2. feel better about yourself after comparing yourself to someone else? Rarely, Never No positive SC on IG 16 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 19 of 49 WE ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS FOR EVERYDAY LIFE Negative social Always, Often, Sometimes comparison in 1. feel worse about yourself after everyday life comparing yourself to someone else? Rarely, Never No negative SC in In your everyday everyday life life, how often do you... Positive social Always, Often, Sometimes comparison in 2. feel better about yourself after everyday life comparing yourself to someone else? Rarely, Never No positive SC in everyday life 17 POSITIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON HAPPENS ALMOST Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 20 of 49 AS OFTEN AS NEGATIVE ONES—BOTH ON IG AND IN EVERYDAY LIFE Positive vs negative SC So what? • Although negative social comparison is slightly more prevalent than positive ones both on IG and Negative SC_IG 35.5% in everyday life, the difference is small. On IG • This provides fresh evidence to the overwhelming attention of popular media and academic literature 2.44% difference, Positive SC_IG 33.1% statistically sig that focused solely on negative social comparison. 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% • This finding is also surprising to us. We designed % of respondents (N=5,414) this survey with an emphasis on negative social comparison. Future studies should further explore the experience of positive social comparison and what can be done to promote it. Everyday Negative SC_everyday 43.5% life Positive SC_everyday 40.5% 2.94% difference, statistically sig 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% % of respondents (N=5,383) Note: The sum of negative and positive social comparison does not equal to the overall prevalence because they are not mutually exclusive, i.e. a respondent can do both negative and positive comparisons. Also, 18 this question is asked to all respondents; it is not restricted to respondents who indicate they do social comparison prior to this question. Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 21 of 49 1.2. WHO'S MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG? ON IG, WOMEN ARE MORE AFFECTED BY NEGATIVE Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 22 of 49 COMPARISON WHEREAS MEN ARE MORE AFFECTED BY POSITIVE ONES Social comparison prevalence on IG by gender Positive vs negative SC on IG by gender When women do Wome Negative SC_IG 40% social comparison, n they more often 47% Overall on IG, 53% women do Positive SC_IG 33% feel WORSE about more social themselves. comparison 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% % of respondents (N=3,092) 35% 40% 45% N=3,078 than men (53% vs BUray, 43%) When men do Men 43% Negative SC_IG 24% social comparison, 57% they more often feel BETTER Positive SC_IG 30% about themselves. N=1,517 a net" 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% % of respondents (N=1,535) 22 TEEN GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN ARE Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 23 of 49 PARTICULARLY PRONE TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISONS Negative and positive social comparison on IG by age for Negative and positive social comparison on IG by age for women men 1 66% 40% 13-17 13-17 42% 43% 53% 35% 18-24 18-24 37% 37% 38% 30% 25-34 25-34 35% 34% 30% 21% 35-44 35-44 31% 30% 22% 14% 45-54 45-54 22% 20% 16% 12% 55 + 55 + 25% 21% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of respondents (N=3,083) % of respondents (N=1,522) negative SC positive SC negative SC positive SC 23 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 24 of 49 LOGISTIC REGRESSION WITH LOG DATA SHOWS THAT AGE AND GENDER ARE THE STRONGEST PREDICTORS OF NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON Statistical significance Interpretation: All else equal, the odds of Odds ratio of logistic regression on negative social comparison on (p<0.05) experiencing negative social comparison on IG… IG Age 13-17 (compared to 25+ years old) 4.420 Yes for 13-17 years old are 4.42 times larger Compared to 25+ compared to being 25 + years old years old men, Yes for 18-24 years old are 2.814 times larger the odds for teen Age 18-24 (compared to 25+ years old) 2.814 compared to being 25 + years old Female 1.840 Yes for females are 1.84 times larger compared to girls to do males negative SC are Yes for people who have been on IG 1,000 days longer is 1.28 larger No. of days sinice reg. per 1,000 1.280 than people who don't 8x; for young No. of followings per 1,000 1.082 No Not statistically significant women 5x, controlling for No. of followers per 1,000 1.070 Yes for people who have 1,000 more followers is 1.07 larger than people who don't tenure, web_l28 1.017 No Not statistically significant engagement level, no. of l28 1.006 No Not statistically significant follow(er)s, and time spent daily 28d per hour 0.998 country. No Not statistically significant - 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500 4.000 4.500 N=4,612 Odds ratio Note: Logistics regression isolates the independent influence of each independent variable on the dependent variable while holding all other independent variables in the model constant. The full model controls for country (result not reported). 24 8x is calculated by 4.420*1.840; 5X is calculated by 2.814*1.840 INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 25 of 49 PREVALENCE INSIGHTS: • 51% of people do social comparison on IG. Positive and negative social comparison are almost equally prevalent (33% and 35%). • Teen girls and young women do more social comparison, especially negative social comparison. • Controlling for controlling for tenure, engagement level, no. of follow(er)s, and country, the odds for teen girls to do negative SC are 8x and for young women 5x larger than 25+ years old men. OPPORTUNITIES: • How can we improve IG experience especially for targeted populations? What if IG has a "teen mode"? Teens are vulnerable not only to negative social comparison found in this study but also a range of other stressors. We could have a product feature that better cater to teenagers' needs and better protect them. More studies on teens are needed to better understand their social comparison experience, e.g. a feeds study that ask teens to go through their typical IG feeds and identify which ones are triggers and why. 25 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 26 of 49 2. WHAT TRIGGERS NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON ON IG? 26 PHOTO/VIDEO IS THE NO.1 TRIGGER FOR Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 27 of 49 NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN You indicated that you felt worse about yourself after comparing yourself to someone on Instagram. TOP POSTS Thinking about the last time it happened, what specifically made you feel worse? [select all that #famousmodel apply] Triggers for negative social comparison on IG by gender 58% The photo/video of the post itself 61% 47% 34% The number of likes (hearts) that a post got 36% 34% 24% The number of followers the other account had 24% 28% 20% Other people's comments 21% 20% 19% The account (friend, celebrity or advertiser) who shared that post 19% 18% 12% Other 10% 16% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of respondents 56 likes women_all_around_the_world @scarlettleithold @ All Female Male N_all=1,855; N_Female=1,273; N_male=346 27 BEAUTY, FITNESS, AND FASHION ARE TOP THREE Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 28 of 49 CONTENTS THAT TRIGGER NEGATIVE COMPARISON FOR WOMEN Whereas, top three for men are travel, romantics, and fitness You indicated that it was the photo/video of the post that made you worse about yourself, what was it about? [select all that apply] Photo/video contents that trigger negative Photo/video contents that trigger negative social comparison on IG for women social comparison on IG for men Beauty 52% Travel 38% Health, fitness, or sports 48% Romantic relationships 35% Fashion or style 37% Health, fitness, or sports 35% Travel 29% Fashion or style 26% Romantic relationships 28% Beauty 23% Friends or family 21% Friends or family 22% Home or decor 12% Cars or motorcycles 17% Design, architecture, or photography 10% Design, architecture, or photography 16% Food or dining 10% Work or school performance 15% Work or school performance 10% Home or decor 10% Kids or parenting 5% Other (please specify): __________ 9% Animals or pets 4% Humor or funny memes 9% Cars or motorcycles 4% Food or dining 8% Other (please specify): __________ 3% Animals or pets 6% Humor or funny memes 3% Kids or parenting 3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% % of respondents (N=797) % of respondents (N=175) 28 THE UPSETTING POSTS ARE MOST OFTEN POSTED Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 29 of 49 BY CELEBRITIES, FRIENDS, STRANGERS, AND ACQUAINTANCES The top 4 are the same for both genders, but the ranking is different You indicated that you felt worse about yourself after comparing yourself to someone on Instagram. Thinking about the last time it happened, Which of the following BEST describes the account who posted that content? Account types for negative social Account types for negative social comparison on IG for women comparison on IG for men Celebrity or public figure 30% Friend 23% Friend 21% Celebrity or public figure 21% Acquaintance 20% Somebody I didn't know 21% Somebody I didn't know 19% Acquaintance 19% Brand, business, or advertiser 4% Other 5% Other 3% Romantic interest 4% Close family or extended family 2% Brand, business, or advertiser 3% Romantic interest 1% Close family or extended family 2% Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Spouse/Partner 0% Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Spouse/Partner 1% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% % of respondents (N=1,285) % of respondents (N=362) 29 MOST RESPONDENTS FELT "NOT AT ALL CLOSE" Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 30 of 49 WITH THE PEOPLE WHO POSTED THE UPSETTING CONTENTS You indicated that you felt worse about yourself after comparing yourself to someone on Instagram. Thinking about the last time it happened, How close did you feel to the person when they shared that photo/video? Tie strength with the people who posted upsetting contents on IG by gender 51% Not at all close 54% 41% 20% A little close 19% 21% 22% Somewhat close 20% 29% 6% Very close 6% 5% 2% Extremely close 1% 3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of respondents All Female Male N_all=1,750; N_Female=1,226; N_male=346 30 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 31 of 49 INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR TRIGGERS INSIGHTS: • Negative social comparison is triggered mostly by photo/video, in particular regarding beauty, fitness, fashion, travel, and romantic relationships. • These contents are usually posted by weak ties such as celebrities, strangers, and acquaintances, who people feel "not at all close" to. OPPORTUNITIES: • How can we make these triggers less salient? What if we train content classifiers to better label and classify these content? What if content classifiers and feed filters work together to give people more control of what they want to see? E.g. "show me more of the content that I liked"; "show me content like this only once a week" What if we give people the option of posting things either privately within a group of people vs publicly to the whole IG community? (so that fewer people would be exposed to "luxurious lifestyle from random people") What if IG suggests photo filters only to certain types of photos such as landscape (low risk to trigger social comparison) but not to people portraits (major trigger for social comparison)? 31 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 36 of 49 4. WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL COMPARISON? Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 37 of 49 4.1 IMPACT ON ENGAGEMENT WITH IG Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 38 of 49 NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON RESULTS IN REDUCED ENGAGEMENT WITH IG Have you changed how you use Instagram as a result of seeing these posts that made you feel worse in comparison? [Select all that apply] Impact on engagement with IG "So, what I do is I put my phone I spent less time on Instagram 29% away. I try to get off of it. I didn't change how I used Instagram at all 28% 'Cause it's a pattern: you go on there and you see all these I changed who I followed or who followed me 27% photos. You'll go on one model I shared less on Instagram 26% to another model. You just see I edited more of my photos or video before I shared them on Instagram 19% stunning photos of beautiful women and you start to feel I deleted my photos or video on Instagram 15% down about yourself. You're I spent more time on Instagram 12% like, "Oh my god, I'm so ugly." Like, "I need to crawl in a hole I shared more on Instagram 8% and not come out." I deactivated Instagram account for some time 4% Golkoo, 26, female Other, please specify: _____ 4% I created a new Instagram account and started over 3% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% % of respondents (N=1,707) Source: Survey date and LA interview: https://fb.facebook.com/notes/ /keeping-up-with-the-joneses-in-the-digital-age-interview-findings-from-instagram/147143206237714/ Note: these are self-reported data. Future studies should leverage log data together with on-platform experiments to further understand social comparison's impact on engagement with IG. 38 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 39 of 49 4.2 IMPACT ON WELLBEING Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 40 of 49 NEGATIVE SOCIAL COMPARISON IS ASSOCIATED WITH WORSENED WELL-BEING MEASURES ACROSS THE BOARD How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Wellbeing by whether or not experienced negative social comparison on IG Difference Interpretation 3.02 -1.07 • People who have I feel left out (reversed coded). 4.09 experienced negative comparison on IG have 3.56 -0.87 I feel bad most of the time (reversed coded). 4.43 lowered WB scores than people who have not (all I feel good most of the time. 3.45 -0.73 differences are statistically 4.19 significant) 3.50 -0.67 I am satisfied with my life. 4.17 • The biggest gap comes in "I feel left out". "Left out" can I feel that what I do in life is valuable and worthwhile. 3.72 -0.55 mean loneliness, but in 4.27 social comparison context it 3.74 can also mean a sense of I believe that I am capable in most things. 4.26 -0.52 falling behind, e.g. my friends are making progress 3.86 I feel motivated to pursue my interests. -0.45 in their lives/having 4.31 accomplishments whereas I - 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 Mean of WB score 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 am not. Negative SC No negative SC Note: N_negative SC = 1,789, N_no negative SC = 3,192 I assigned scores 1-5 respectively to strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neither disagree nor agree, somewhat agree, strongly agree. "I feel left out" and "I feel bad most of the time" are reversed coded. 40 For brevity, I followed common practice to treat these variables as continuous rather than ordinal categorical variables. Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 41 of 49 WE USE AN EXPERIMENT TO TEST IF PRIMING PEOPLE THEIR PAST SOCIAL COMPARISON EXPERIENCES MAY AFFECT WELLBEING Survey takers are randomly put into two groups, where the question order is flipped Control Group Treatment Group Experiments can test 1. Wellbeing 1. Questions about whether social comparison questions negative social causes lowered wellbeing or is only associated with it comparison 2. Questions about negative social 2. Wellbeing comparison questions 41 Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 42 of 49 EXPERIMENT SHOWS AT LEAST SOME OF THIS ASSOCIATION IS CAUSAL How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? • Priming people their past Statistical Wellbeing by experiment group significance negative social comparison experience results in lowered WB measures 4 2.92 Yes, P<0.05 I feel left out (reversed coded). 3.12 out of 7, but not across the board as found in the 3.41 Yes, P<0.10 I am satisfied with my life. 3.57 previous slide. This suggests that relationship 3.64 Yes, P<0.05 I feel that what I do in life is valuable and worthwhile. 3.78 between social comparison and wellbeing may be 3.67 I believe that I am capable in most things. 3.79 Yes, P<0.05 reciprocal, i.e. people in poor WB do more social 3.81 I feel motivated to pursue my interests. 3.90 No comparison, which return further lowers their WB. 3.58 I feel bad most of the time (reversed coded). 3.55 No • Note that the lowered WB scores shown left are only 3.48 I feel good most of the time. 3.43 No due to priming. It is - 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 reasonable to believe that Mean of WB score the actually experiencing Treatment group Control group negative social comparison may have a larger impact Note: N_treatment group= 846, N_control group= 943. Every respondent was put ramdomly into treatment or control group. The small sample size here is because these are only those who experienced negative social comparison on IG. 42 I assigned scores 1-5 respectively to strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neither disagree nor agree, somewhat agree, strongly agree. "I feel left out" and "I feel bad most of the time" are reversed coded. For brevity, I followed common practice to treat these variables as continuous rather than ordinal categorical variables. Case 4:22-md-03047-YGR Document 2756-54 Filed 02/20/26 Page 43 of 49 4.3 IMPACT ON EMOTION