Meta to share data with researchers studying online well-being

Meta announced that it is partnering with the Center for Open Science on a pilot program to share certain privacy-preserving social media data with a select group of academic researchers to study topics related to well-being. Social media companies, like Meta, have an opportunity to contribute to the public’s scientific understanding of how different factors may or may not impact well-being and inform productive conversations about how to help people thrive. This pilot is designed to support that goal, and it will use new types of research processes that have been popularized in the open science movement, such as preregistration and early peer review, Meta said. “At Meta, we want to do our part to contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of how different factors may or may not relate to people’s well-being. We’re committed to doing this in a way that respects the privacy of people who use our apps. COS has a proven track record of supporting scientific rigor and complex open-science projects, and we look forward to partnering with them on this pilot. We also hope it can provide a model for other companies to take similar steps,” said Curtiss Cobb, PhD, Vice President of Research at Meta.