\n<\/p>\n
I am so glad to see an article published about the impact of social media on pregnant people and new mothers (\u2018I felt doomed\u2019: social media guessed I was pregnant \u2013 and my feed soon grew horrifying, 3 September). I say \u201cmothers\u201d as I noticed my husband was not subjected to the same algorithms that I was. I, too, found it completely overwhelming\u00a0when I was pregnant and have come off all social media, as the suggested reels I was barraged with did nothing but create anxiety for me as a new parent.<\/p>\n
I decided it was toxic messaging that I didn\u2019t need to be privy to. As there are lots of positive things happening on social media \u2013 eg groups connecting you with local new mums \u2013 it was a shame to miss out on what could have been happening in my area.<\/p>\n
I rejoined Facebook to connect with others after having a baby, but\u00a0I was soon being spammed with nonsense (I remember a lot of reels claiming you hindered your baby\u2019s development if they wore socks), which, in my sleep\u2011deprived and time\u2011rich state\u00a0(ie during hours of breastfeeding at night), I would often find myself clicking on, and\u00a0then be sent spiralling with worry, or comparing myself with the influencer mums. I didn\u2019t need\u00a0that negative influence in my life when I was trying to find my feet as a parent. Parents have enough to worry about. To avoid the exact situation described in this article, I made my husband do any and all pregnancy- and baby-related site viewing and searches under his profiles so that the algorithms wouldn\u2019t know I was an almost-40-year-old woman trying to get pregnant. For the most part it worked. Seemed like an easy and helpful thing he could do for us as a family \u2013 and it was worth it.<\/p>\n I really struggled with all the \u201cyou should\/shouldn\u2019t be doing this\u201d Instagram posts during my baby\u2019s first year \u2013 to the point where it was making me doubt myself, so I just deleted the app. I bought a few trusty books and made a bunch of parent friends at my local early education centre, and I used them for advice. Focus on your baby and what they need, and when you don\u2019t know something,, or think something is off, get help from a trusted source. Think of it this way \u2013 energy and time you are spending on social media is time spent removing energy and focus from being in tune with your baby and your family. Get off the apps. When I first read Kathryn Wheeler\u2019s article, I had an \u201cAha\u201d moment. As a clinical psychologist, I\u2019ve seen many expectant and new moms with doomscrolling-induced anxiety. Social media has a knack for taking a normal worry and dialling it way up. As Kathryn noted, this is by design. Moms\u00a0are especially vulnerable: during pregnancy and postpartum, the amygdala, the brain\u2019s threat detector, is supercharged. This is nature\u2019s way of making sure that new moms are aware of potential threats to their babies, but, online, it means lingering on scarier posts. Algorithms read that pause as a \u201clike\u201d and pile on more fear\u2011inducing content.<\/p>\n Worse still, the tech industry knows this. In 2012, the New York Times reported how Target figured\u00a0out a teen was pregnant before her family did. If retailers used data like that over a decade ago, you can bet today\u2019s platforms know exactly how to keep new moms hooked. Pair this with research showing that\u00a0people in negative moods are more likely to make impulse purchases, and the design becomes\u00a0clear: stoke fear, trigger clicks and sell more stuff. However, the cost is way higher than just a large credit card bill.<\/p>\n This cycle can worsen postpartum depression and anxiety. But let\u2019s be realistic: completely unplugging can mean isolation and career setbacks, especially for new moms already at risk of feeling cut off. The real issue is that the system is designed to exploit moms\u2019 most vulnerable moments. I\u2019m with your writer that it is our social responsibility to protect vulnerable groups when\u00a0they browse online. I\u2019m writing to share my personal experience of dealing with social media while pregnant and suffering a miscarriage. The algorithm guessed I was pregnant within days of me having a positive pregnancy test; I don\u2019t know how this happened since I had never interacted with anything to do with pregnancies or babies before this. I wasn\u2019t even really trying to get pregnant. I remember thinking: \u201cWhat if I have a miscarriage and I keep having to see all of this stuff?\u201d And that, unfortunately, is exactly what happened. It was so painful. And no matter how many times I went into my settings to tell it to not show me these ads, they kept coming. Eventually they stopped, but it took a good while of being off socials. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/em><\/strong>email<\/em><\/strong> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/em><\/strong>letters<\/em><\/strong> section.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am so glad to see an article published about the impact of social media on pregnant people and new mothers (\u2018I felt doomed\u2019: social media guessed I was pregnant \u2013 and my feed soon grew horrifying, 3 September). I say \u201cmothers\u201d as I noticed my husband was not subjected to the same algorithms that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[10224,205,4805,204],"class_list":{"0":"post-19350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-exploit","9":"tag-media","10":"tag-pregnancy","11":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Name and address supplied<\/strong><\/p>\n
Vera Santillana<\/strong>
Toronto, Ontario, Canada<\/em><\/p>\n
Dr Alla Prokhovnik-Raphique<\/strong>
New York City, US<\/em><\/p>\n
Lauren Fairley<\/strong>
Stockport, Greater Manchester<\/em><\/p>\n