New mothers have enough to deal with – and then they open social media with momfluencers posting heavily curated content about their perfect lives and children to millions, often with a promotional angle.
That’s doing damage to some mothers’ mental health, researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln warn — but their new study offers a solution.
A “dose of reality” can reduce shame and mitigate bad feelings mothers may develop when they see a feed full of idealized posts, the researchers say.
The findings could help mothers make better decisions about who they follow on social media, raise awareness about the impact of a momfluencer-heavy feed on their brains and expose work that platforms could do to help reduce harmful effects.
“I think these results show that platforms need to do more to avoid the echo chambers that people find themselves in,” scholar Ciera Kirkpatrick said in a statement. “For moms who are on social media, it’s very easy for them to get into these traps of just seeing idealized content.”
“If algorithms worked differently to try to bring more diversity to what people see, that would be helpful,” she added.
The problem with invisible DJs
Right now, algorithms choose the posts people see on their apps based on their browsing history. They’re like an “invisible DJ,” University of Alabama social media expert and associate professor of marketing Parker Woodroof said in a post last year.
But that can create echo chambers that researchers at the University of Rochester say are a design choice.
“Across a series of experiments, we find that what people see online does influence their beliefs, often pulling them closer to the views they are repeatedly exposed to,” Adiba Mahbub Proma, a computer science PhD student at the university, said in February. “But when algorithms incorporate more randomization, this feedback loop weakens. Users are exposed to a broader range of perspectives and become more open to differing views.”
Still, Kirkpatrick says her findings don’t mean forgoing social media altogether until algorithms change.
“We don’t have to tell moms they can’t be on social media at all,” she said.
Postpartum depression
Her tests using a simulated social media feed with videos she curated showed that some mothers only idealized content and others saw a mix of content.
Mothers who saw only idealized posts reported feeling significantly more shame and lower positive emotion overall — although anxiety levels were not reduced in the mothers who saw both kinds of posts.
Idealized posts have also been found to increase anxiety levels and reduce confidence in parenting abilities.
“It’s very problematic, because social media really idealizes motherhood,” said Kirkpatrick. “There’s a strong relationship between shame and postpartum depression.”
Postpartum depression has risen among new mothers in the U.S. in recent years, with the rate seven times higher in 2015 than in 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One in eight women with a recent live birth reported symptoms of postpartum depression, according to the latest federal research.
And mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in America, with 23 percent of deaths a week to a year after pregnancy attributed to a mental health condition.
Mental health among mothers has declined since 2016, researchers at the University of Michigan and Columbia University in New York say.
That’s why updated guidance from doctors and therapists could be helpful, Kirkpatrick says, including content highlighting the downsides of social media for mothers and sharing strategies for healthier use.
Postpartum screenings could include questions about how much time mothers spend online and whether they notice changes in how they feel after using social media.
“It could be beneficial, and I hope to do a future study on it, if health care providers could utilize social media and post content so that the mothers are finding the information where they’re already at, in their feeds,” she said.
