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> “When I went on Instagram, all I saw were images of chiseled bodies, perfect abs and women doing 100 burpees in 10 minutes,” said Ms. Vlasova, now 18, who lives in Reston, Va.

I just logged into my Instagram. I saw a guy fixing an old "roundie" television set, someone baking food, some through-the-microscope photos of soldering surface-mount components by hand, a home-made 3D printer, and a couple of clips from musicians. What am I missing here?

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You are missing that Instagram (and nearly every other online platform) targets users based on the type of content it thinks they want to see. Instagram thinks you are more interested in tinkering and that Ms. Vlasova is more interested in other things.

Ok. But why? And can Ms. Vlasova complain if that's what she's interested in?

The "targeted" content diversifies based on what FB thinks would interest you. FB is better at predicting your interests and hobbies than you do, which eventually leads to doomscrolling.

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