What if a Healthier Facebook Is Just … Instagram?
Users of this app, many of whom have private accounts with modest followings, can post photos or videos,
but external links do not work and there is no re-share button, making it harder for users to amplify one another’s posts.
Links in Instagram captions and comments aren’t clickable,
and while some users have found workarounds, the vast majority of Instagram posts aren’t meant to send users to outside websites.
One study, published by researchers at the University of Oregon in 2016, found
that the use of image-based platforms like Instagram and Snapchat was associated with lower levels of loneliness among users, and higher levels of happiness and satisfaction, while text-based platforms had no correlation with improved mental health.
