Instagram has rolled out its diversity survey to users across the United States.
The platform announced in late July it would be sending out the survey over the coming weeks in order to understand “how different communities experience Instagram” by sending a voluntary survey for users to self-report their race or ethnicity. Instagram also promised all survey responses would be encrypted and never tied back to the accounts so the ads system would be unaffected.
“This information will allow us to better understand the experiences different communities have on Instagram, how our technology may impact different groups, and if there are changes we can make to promote fairness,” the post read. The results, according to Instagram, could affect “how we rank content” in the future.
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Northeastern University, YouGov, Texas Southern University, the University of Central Florida, and Oasis Labs are all involved in the collection of the data. All institutions have committed to deleting the responses after 30 days.
“Help us keep Instagram fair and inclusive,” the prompt to take the survey reads. The option of responses include “African-American or Black,” “Asian, South Asian, or Asian-American,” “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish,” “Middle Eastern or North African,” “Native American, American Indian, or Alaskan,” “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,” “White,” and “Other.”
“I’m sure there’s nothing weird or creepy going on here at all!” Rep. Dan Bishop’s (R-NC) Communications Director Allie McCandless tweeted after receiving the survey prompt on her own Instagram. “[The] explanatory blog post about the survey is incredibly vague.”
“Instagram will measure fairness based on race and ethnicity.”
I’m sure there’s nothing weird or creepy going on here at all! pic.twitter.com/A9VbYd7rdc
— Allie McCandless ?? (@AllieMcCandless) August 18, 2022
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It is unclear if the survey will only go to users in the U.S. or if it will eventually be shared globally. Instagram’s parent company Meta did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
The survey is headed by Instagram’s Equity team, which was established in September 2020.
