3 ms·

>They only show you the best slices of individual lives, all day, every day. When compared to your life, it makes it look like you're doing nothing with your li

>They only show you the best slices of individual lives, all day, every day. When compared to your life, it makes it look like you're doing nothing with your life. Exactly. You end up judging your interior by others' exterior. They show you a highly edited version of their life, made to impress everyone else. You're doing nothing but constantly chasing a phantom life you can never have, because no one else really has it either.

rconti 9y ago
So many people complain about this, and I just don't get it. Maybe if I'm not part of the solution, I'm part of the problem? When I'm stuck at my desk and I see someone posting vacation pictures from Spain, I say "man, that looks nice, I wish I was there!" And that's it. Maybe it makes me think about where I want to go next, but it doesn't send me into some existential crisis. I wonder if there are personality types more prone to being affected by stuff like this? If anything, I'd think I would -- certainly prone to depression, particularly in my younger years. But I just don't care. I wonder why that is, and what is different among people who are affected by these things differently.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  The entire idea is that the effect is subconscious. Sure, seeing one person post vacation pictures from Spain won't affect you then and there, but over time as everyone posts awesome pictures you will inevitably feel that something must be lacking in or wrong with your life.
  - rconti 9y ago
    I don't know. I see all of these people complaining about these effects, and it simply doesn't bother me in the same way (not to say it couldn't possibly have a subconscious effect). But I feel as if it caused the same effect in me as it causes in others, I'd be talking about how I'm going to "take a break" from $socialnetwork for a month, and how much better I feel, and so on. But I don't. It's just a tool. I use it and enjoy it. If I didn't, I wouldn't.
- 98Windows 9y ago
  But imagine if you were didn't have anyone to go on holiday with or you couldn't afford it. You'd feel much worse about seeing your old school mate going on a fancy holiday. We live in a very unequal world so this is bound to be a common occurrence.

rconti 9y ago

So many people complain about this, and I just don't get it. Maybe if I'm not part of the solution, I'm part of the problem? When I'm stuck at my desk and I see someone posting vacation pictures from Spain, I say "man, that looks nice, I wish I was there!" And that's it. Maybe it makes me think about where I want to go next, but it doesn't send me into some existential crisis. I wonder if there are personality types more prone to being affected by stuff like this? If anything, I'd think I would -- certainly prone to depression, particularly in my younger years. But I just don't care. I wonder why that is, and what is different among people who are affected by these things differently.

enraged_camel 9y ago
The entire idea is that the effect is subconscious. Sure, seeing one person post vacation pictures from Spain won't affect you then and there, but over time as everyone posts awesome pictures you will inevitably feel that something must be lacking in or wrong with your life.
- rconti 9y ago
  I don't know. I see all of these people complaining about these effects, and it simply doesn't bother me in the same way (not to say it couldn't possibly have a subconscious effect). But I feel as if it caused the same effect in me as it causes in others, I'd be talking about how I'm going to "take a break" from $socialnetwork for a month, and how much better I feel, and so on. But I don't. It's just a tool. I use it and enjoy it. If I didn't, I wouldn't.
98Windows 9y ago
But imagine if you were didn't have anyone to go on holiday with or you couldn't afford it. You'd feel much worse about seeing your old school mate going on a fancy holiday. We live in a very unequal world so this is bound to be a common occurrence.