Heavy Instagram use may blur your sense of self, study suggests

Researchers at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan have found that prolonged Instagram use may affect more than body image; it could also influence how the brain recognises your own face and body.

Published in Computers in Human Behaviour, the research introduces the Digital Erosion of Bodily Identity Hypothesis, which proposes that years of exposure to selfies, filters, and idealised digital images may gradually weaken the perceptual boundaries that help us recognise ourselves as unique individuals.

The study comes as concerns grow over the mental health effects of social media. Previous research has linked image-focused platforms like Instagram to body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

This new research had explored a more profound question: can social media also shape the brain processes that underpin your sense of self?

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Researchers studied 95 young adults, aged around 26, who had used Instagram for an average of eight years. Participants took part in virtual reality experiments that temporarily created the illusion that another person’s face was theirs. Neuroscientists widely use these body-ownership illusions to investigate how the brain distinguishes the self from others.

They reported that participants with longer histories of Instagram use were more likely to identify with a stranger’s face. The effect was strongest for facial identity—the part of the body most closely tied to our sense of who we are.

Professor Giuseppe Riva, who coordinated the study, explained that the face is central to an individual’s identity, adding, “The fact that this effect emerged specifically for the face makes the findings particularly significant.”

The researchers say the findings provide early support for the Digital Erosion of Bodily Identity Hypothesis, suggesting that long-term exposure to highly curated digital images may subtly influence the brain mechanisms involved in constructing personal identity.

The researchers reported, however, that the study does not show that Instagram causes mental illness or that these changes are necessarily harmful. Instead, it highlights a previously overlooked area of research into how digital environments may shape our self-perception.

Lead author Dr. Maria Sansoni noted that the participants represent the first generation to grow up with social media. As children begin using these platforms at increasingly younger ages, she said, understanding their long-term effects on identity will become even more important.