How Instagram takes a toll on influencers' brains

Research suggests the platform fosters anxiety as we compare ourselves to others

Like many 24-year-olds, Alexandra Mondalek, a fashion reporter in New York, found herself obsessing over social media. Her rapidly growing fashion-focused Instagram account, @hautetakes, was gaining attention, with a little more than 1,000 followers, and it was all she could think about. She wasn't making money from it yet, but Mondalek wondered if she could reach "influencer" status if she kept at it.

"I was putting too much weight into who was viewing my Instagram," says Mondalek, who started posting photos of the free gifts she received from designers and PR teams, hoping to build her following. "I would worry about how a post was performing instead of making important calls. I felt a certain pressure to make a brand of myself, and there was so much anxiety in that."