6 ms·

I wonder how much of this stress is caused by technological advances. I bet Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. is making these poor kids neurotic.

roymurdock 11y ago
The article calls this out pretty explicitly: In the era of social media, such comparisons take place on a screen with carefully curated depictions that don’t provide the full picture. Mobile devices escalate the comparisons from occasional to nearly constant...Madison Holleran’s suicide provided what might be the ultimate contrast between a shiny Instagram feed and interior darkness. Ms. Holleran posted images that show her smiling, dappled in sunshine or kicking back at a party. But according to her older sister, Ashley, Madison judged her social life as inferior to what she saw in the online posts of her high school friends. An hour before she killed herself, she posted a dreamy final photo of white holiday lights twinkling in the trees of Rittenhouse Square. I'm 22 (just graduated) and I got rid of my Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat about a year ago. It feels fantastic. I do miss messenger sometimes, but the benefit of not having my time/energy sucked out by Facebook far outweighs messenger's convenience.
- seiji 11y ago
  Madison judged her social life as inferior to what she saw in the online posts of her high school friends. I'm 32 and still feel shitty about life compared against everybody else posting their amazingly perfect success-success-success lives online. Computers used to be the domain of nerds, then they became too common and now it's a permanent social status ranking high school game you never get to exit and can't even completely opt out of either. Maybe we could make a viral game like the ice bucket challenge except this challenge is to not post online when something amazing happens in your life. Just be quiet and know you got away with something.
  - rjbwork 11y ago
    How can one not completely opt out? I'm completely opted out of it all. All I've got left is a facebook profile I haven't updated in over 5 years.
    - bjwbell 11y ago
      I mostly opted out. I became much happier when I stopped looking at other people's feeds & instead only email/text to keep in contact.
  - wmt 11y ago
    Don't get fooled by the success-posts on FB, as they are an extremely edited version of real life. If you really put on effort to make your life appear as fabulous as possible on FB, wouldn't you be also feel shitty compared to that version of you?
    - gott 11y ago
      A success is it when you can stay real and still have success, but are not afraid to post your fails also... We all learn and if we don´t say what we do wrong, how will the people learn? It´s nice to show off, but even nicer to be a good teacher and actually be of benefit to the others...i see so many chicks recieving tons of likes, they could be of service but like it more to have this social networking as their mirror where they make themselfs beauties.. Off course someone should feel bad by doing it, it is about character and mutual respect... Not about: HEY LOOK AT ME... Good point!

roymurdock 11y ago

The article calls this out pretty explicitly: In the era of social media, such comparisons take place on a screen with carefully curated depictions that don’t provide the full picture. Mobile devices escalate the comparisons from occasional to nearly constant...Madison Holleran’s suicide provided what might be the ultimate contrast between a shiny Instagram feed and interior darkness. Ms. Holleran posted images that show her smiling, dappled in sunshine or kicking back at a party. But according to her older sister, Ashley, Madison judged her social life as inferior to what she saw in the online posts of her high school friends. An hour before she killed herself, she posted a dreamy final photo of white holiday lights twinkling in the trees of Rittenhouse Square. I'm 22 (just graduated) and I got rid of my Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat about a year ago. It feels fantastic. I do miss messenger sometimes, but the benefit of not having my time/energy sucked out by Facebook far outweighs messenger's convenience.

seiji 11y ago
Madison judged her social life as inferior to what she saw in the online posts of her high school friends. I'm 32 and still feel shitty about life compared against everybody else posting their amazingly perfect success-success-success lives online. Computers used to be the domain of nerds, then they became too common and now it's a permanent social status ranking high school game you never get to exit and can't even completely opt out of either. Maybe we could make a viral game like the ice bucket challenge except this challenge is to not post online when something amazing happens in your life. Just be quiet and know you got away with something.
- rjbwork 11y ago
  How can one not completely opt out? I'm completely opted out of it all. All I've got left is a facebook profile I haven't updated in over 5 years.
  - bjwbell 11y ago
    I mostly opted out. I became much happier when I stopped looking at other people's feeds & instead only email/text to keep in contact.
- wmt 11y ago
  Don't get fooled by the success-posts on FB, as they are an extremely edited version of real life. If you really put on effort to make your life appear as fabulous as possible on FB, wouldn't you be also feel shitty compared to that version of you?
  - gott 11y ago
    A success is it when you can stay real and still have success, but are not afraid to post your fails also... We all learn and if we don´t say what we do wrong, how will the people learn? It´s nice to show off, but even nicer to be a good teacher and actually be of benefit to the others...i see so many chicks recieving tons of likes, they could be of service but like it more to have this social networking as their mirror where they make themselfs beauties.. Off course someone should feel bad by doing it, it is about character and mutual respect... Not about: HEY LOOK AT ME... Good point!