Over the last few years, it has become abundantly clear that different users on Instagram have spoken out against the platform’s algorithmic bias towards certain accounts. Marginalized groups such as LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC have repeatedly been vocal that their reach and following keep shrinking as the platform dictates what pages, communities, and content to push out.
After many backlashes, the platform established an Equity team, and after two years in the making, it is still trying to understand how people from historically marginalized communities experience Instagram. Their extensive research aims to collect and measure demographical data from users participating in an experimental survey (like race and ethnicity). As a means to improve their AI technology; this is what you should expect from the upcoming optional survey.
How will Instagram’s inclusivity test work?
Instagram officially announced that they will roll out the experiment first in the United States and those users confirming their voluntary participation will see a prompt asking them for their race and ethnicity. Afterward, users will be re-directed to the official survey which is spearheaded by YouGov as a third-party data analytical firm.
YouGov is an international research group that helps companies securely run surveys. The individual, de-identified responses collected by them will be encrypted and split into parts to be stored across partner research institutions; namely Texas Southern University, University of Central Florida, Northeastern University, and Oasis Labs. The partnered research institutions will receive the split, de-identified responses from YouGov which will finally be shared with Meta as an aggregated analysis for Instagram’s future inclusivity feature.
Instagram assured its users that they will not have any access to the origins of the data, meaning they will only have access to the aggregated information and would not be able to connect people’s responses with their Instagram accounts. Neither would any of the research institutions.
“The method used by Meta to analyze how people of different races and ethnicities interact with Instagram is very secure. User responses are encrypted and split apart, with distributed algorithmic computations and data storages at different institutions, so no one can link survey responses to Instagram accounts.”
As mentioned byDr. Zhishan Guo, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCF, one of the research universities that partnered with Meta.
“Our mission is to provide the most honest and accurate data through transparent, fully-permissioned interactions with consumers around the world. We are excited to use this capability to help Meta better understand the experiences different communities have and build more equitable products.”
Stephan Shakespeare, CEO, YouGov
“Texas Southern University is proud to join the Meta Civil Rights Team to be positioned at the intersection of technology and urban research. Our faculty and team members in TSU’s Division of Research and Innovation, along with our other schools and colleges, will collaborate to ensure this partnership is a success to benefit communities of color.”
Michelle Penn-Marshall, VP for Research and Innovation at Texas Southern University
How will Instagram use the information gathered?
The aggregated information gathered will allow the platform to better direct resources, identify product flaws and focus on implementing and bettering improvements to features that will eliminate the experience of marginalization to users.
Here are some additional details regarding the survey which Instagram officially announced on their blog:
- Participating in the survey is not required. It is 100% optional.
- We will not tie your survey response back to you or any of your specific accounts. Your survey response is encrypted. Instagram and all Meta platforms, YouGov, Oasis, and the academic institutions do not have the ability to link your response back to your Instagram account.
- This will not limit the experiences that you have on Instagram, including impacting your reach or how people engage with your content in any way.
- With our method, individual survey responses cannot and will not be used in our ads system.
- This information will not be stored with partner institutions in perpetuity. Responses will be deleted by YouGov after 30 days and by Texas Southern University, University of Central Florida, Northeastern University, and Oasis Labs on request.
Whether the data collected will indicate to Instagram to either implement a new feature for influencers and small business pages to better manage their exposure or if they will make adjustments to their AI algorithmic technology is unclear yet.
But what we do know is that the platform is actively seeking ways to better understand and improve the experiences different communities may have when it comes to how they rank content and experience inclusivity. Only time will tell if we will soon have a new inclusive Instagram experience.