Social media firms ‘monetising misery’, says Molly Russell’s father after inquest | The Guardian

Social media is specifically called out as contributing to the death of 14-year old Molly Russell.

Molly viewed more than 16,000 pieces of content on Instagram in the six months before she took her own life, of which 2,100 were related to suicide, self-harm and depression. The inquest heard that she compiled a digital pinboard on Pinterest with 469 images related to similar subjects.

Adults are very aware of the numerous problems with social media. Addictive patterns, loss of privacy, and influencing your behavior in ways you may not even realize are just some of them.

But the real tragedy is for teens that are pulled into these circles. Take the complexities of being a teenager, and the greater influence and lack of experience and self-confidence, and add to that the algorithm engines of these sites driving constant engagement with no regard to the content and the outcomes for the child, and we have a profound problem.