In an effort to better serve historically underserved areas, Instagram said Thursday (July 28) that it will begin polling a small percentage of its users about their race and ethnicity.
Addam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said that the optional survey will ask users what race they perceive they are.
In a video posted to his social media accounts, Mosseri said that the company needs to know how the platform is working for its users if it wants to make sure it is fair.
“We know that groups that have been historically marginalized disproportionately contribute to creativity, toward pushing culture forward,” Mosseri said. “So it’s in our interest to make sure that Instagram is as great an experience as it can be for all communities, for all individuals, no matter how they identify.”
YouGov, an international research group, will run the survey, but users who are asked to take it don’t have to. Instagram is going to work with Texas Southern University, the University of Central Florida, Northeastern University, and Oasis Labs to look at the data. According to Instagram’s blog post, the data will be put together and analyzed in the future.
In 2020, Instagram created a “Equity Team” to address the concerns of Black and other creators of color on the platform and to study algorithmic biases. Mosseri said that the team also looks at whether Instagram treats all users in a “fair” way. He also said that the survey is part of how the platform plans to reach this goal.
Race Measurement Survey 🗞
Starting today we’ll ask a random assortment of people in the US to take an optional survey hosted by @yougovamerica where they can share their race/ethnicity. All responses are encrypted and can’t be connected to your account.https://t.co/wh5Ok54w1W pic.twitter.com/zTNBl3Ctkf
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 28, 2022
Instagram is making progress toward a long-term goal of being more inclusive for people in historically marginalized communities. The app’s official account on Twitter announced that a new survey will ask users in the United States to fill out how they identify themselves based on racial and ethnic background by choosing from categories like African American, White, Latinx, Asian or Pacific Islander, and more.
It’s not clear who will receive the survey or when. However, in a statement on Thursday (July 28), the survey will be sent to a certain number of users in the U.S.
In a blog post, Instagram said it needs to “collect and measure” demographic information, which includes information about race and ethnicity, to “better understand the different experiences people may have on Instagram.”
