Meta Loses Its Youth Products Leader

Meta (née Facebook)’s VP in charge of developing its youth-oriented products, Pavni Diwanji, has “decided to move on” from the company, according to an internal memo seen by The New York Times.

Diwanji had been with Meta since December 2020 and was heavily involved with the social media giant’s project to create a child-friendly version of its popular photo-sharing app, Instagram.

However, Instagram Kids was eventually postponed after leaked documents showed that Meta knew that its products, including Instagram, had adverse effects on younger users. The effects were especially prominent among teenage girls — Facebook researchers reportedly wrote that “32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.”

Instagram’s issues didn’t stop with the leak, as a coalition of U.S. states launched an investigation into the platform’s impact on children in November 2021.

Before Meta, Diwanji spent two years as an SVP at Intuit and 14 years at Google. As a VP at the Silicon Valley titan, she also led kids and family platforms and products like Google FamilyLink and YouTube Kids.

“Pavani has been a tremendous champion for her teams and the drive for this cross-company effort,” Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri wrote in the memo. He continued on and revealed that he would now lead the company’s youth efforts, which he called “a high priority throughout the meta.”

“I know the teams have worked hard to ensure that youth is an important consideration in product development at the company – including VR and Messenger – and I will continue to be an advocate for collaboration and coordination here,” Mosseri stated.

Diwanji isn’t the only recent Meta executive to bail after their signature project hits barriers. David Marcus, the leader of Meta’s fintech and cryptocurrency efforts, jumped ship in November 2021 after the company’s Diem cryptocurrency experienced continued delays. Just three months later, Meta pulled the plug on Diem.