But it should also be noted, teenagers are particularly targeted by and vulnerable to such messaging. In my 30s I can look around and see the evidence against such comparisons, but at 16 I was just some kid who worried she’d never be attractive or well liked. Had I been in spaces that encouraged such attitudes such as Instagram or 4chan I would have been really vulnerable to it.

Young people are often overly worried about such things because adolescence is a difficult and transitory stage where these worries are developmentally appropriate. They’re supposed to have adults who can help them deal with this, and peers that they can learn by interacting with, but it’s normal to not believe your parents on such issues and interactions with peers has been moved online with social media and there’s little interaction with adults. This has led room for teenagers to be preyed on by algorithms that encourage their worst instincts and online communities that teach anything from antisocial behavior to masochistic epistemology.