Study: Heavy Instagram Use May Blur Self-Face Recognition

Scientists wanted to find out if Instagram changes how we see our own bodies and faces.

They studied 95 young people in a virtual reality experiment.

The young people were touched gently while they watched a virtual face being touched in the same way.

People who had used Instagram for a long time were more likely to mix up another person's face with their own.

This suggests Instagram can make our sense of our own body weaker.

The researchers think seeing the same kind of 'perfect' faces again and again causes this.

They say Instagram should show more different kinds of faces and bodies.

They also want digital literacy lessons to teach about the dangers of too much social media.

And they say body positivity can help people feel good about themselves.

Our feeling about our own body is not as fixed as we think.