7 ms·

I think it boils down to "comparison being the thief of joy." Social media of all types are basically one giant comparison machine, and the people that are the

by 2819b 7y ago

I think it boils down to "comparison being the thief of joy." Social media of all types are basically one giant comparison machine, and the people that are the most visible on social media are the richest/best looking/most successful etc.

klodolph 7y ago
I disagree 100%. It's easy to find a scapegoat but the reasons are complex, and from data we know that Millennials and Gen Z are having greater difficulty achieving basic levels of economic stability that were somewhat easier for previous generations. Students are graduating with increasing amounts of debt and entering a job market that can make it tough to pay rent if you don't have experience. It's also easy to say things like "more people should go into STEM", which glosses over a couple parts of our reality--we do still need non-STEM employees, teachers, social workers, etc. even though they are not paid well, and even if you do graduate with STEM that doesn't mean you have skills that will land you a decent wage. Just to pick on an example, consider the choice between chemistry and chemical engineering. Both majors are STEM and seem quite similar, but chemical engineering is the one with good job prospects. Likewise, if you do something like mechanical engineering you might be expected to also do electrical and software, the employment prospects for non-generalist engineers is less than it once was.
- SolaceQuantum 7y ago
  Job prospects in STEM vary widely; S & M are not exactly known for being lucrative, and E is only lucrative in specific subfields.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- supergauntlet 7y ago
  It is honestly ludicrous to see the results of decades of economic warfare and the nonstop closing of proverbial doors of economic opportunity done by boomers and to a lesser extent gen X and then boil everything down to "Social media means more people compare their normal to everyone else's best." It isn't that it's not true, it is! Social media sucks for mental health. It's just also true that there are many legitimate reasons to be upset. I say this as a 24 year old that has been very very lucky to have affluent parents and gone to a good university and gotten a good job. I make more money than I honestly think anyone needs at my current cost of living and yet despite this I have so many friends that are barely scraping by. Depending on what stats you go by, the average American household couldn't spare a $400 expense: https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/05/23/guess-how-many-americans-couldnt-cover-a-400-emerg.aspx https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/05/23/guess-how-many-am... That's a fucking Playstation. That's absurd. So sum the constant anxiety of basically no economic safety net, climate change (which is looking to be "how bad", not "if"), social media reminding you of these AND how much better your friends are doing.. Is it any wonder everybody feels like shit?
  - seem_2211 7y ago
    I think it's a tricky one, because there are a couple of factors here. It's not just one thing, but rather a ton of things - for example, there is social media which is a great way to see which of your 500 friends is currently on vacation right.this.second (and someone always is). While in some senses there's more opportunity than ever before for some groups (e.g. minorities / women) in the workplace, there's also more competition than ever before as more people go for these jobs. Baby boomers and to a lesser extent, Gen X don't really understand that the economy is different for young people, in that everything that was cheap for them (housing, healthcare and education) is now grossly unaffordable, but the things that were the domain of the rich now cost next to nothing (international travel, cellphones, computers etc). I make a lot of money (I'm 26) compared to most my age. But like most young people in San Francisco, I have a roommate. I couldn't buy a house on my own. But I could fly anywhere in the world with no worries. The housing situation will be fucked in California for the foreseeable future because politicians don't care about the poor and the vulnerable. We look at business efficiency as a good thing (and it broadly is), but I think we don't fully account for the costs, in the inherent stress it places on us all. So we now all need a college degree to get an entry level job. That's led to a bifurcation of the economy, between those with a credential and those without. The climate thing is tricky. I think we'll sort it out, but it is a big problem.
    - jnbiche 7y ago
      > now cost next to nothing...international travel I'd like to know your travel agent. Or could it be that despite your very real housing woes, you're making a high salary (as you say) and don't realize that international travel is still well out of reach for most Americans?
  - bartcobain 7y ago
    The issue with social media and mental health is that the topic is just being researched. Millennials and Z's are the consumers in which that technology is being tested and we don't really know all the effects and damages that this new thing is causing on people. We sure know that it is pretty addictive and causes some damages to people who use social media mostly passive and binge on it. Another damage that Social Media does is that now most peoples attention span is quite short, really short actually, and it doesn't help for the workflow. Add the depression(FOMO?) caused from the "comparison is the thief of joy" produced by Social Media and you have a really bad mix that will make you fill like shit on the regular basis.
- refurb 7y ago
  Millennials and Gen Z are having greater difficulty achieving basic levels of economic stability that were somewhat easier for previous generations Easier than what? Their great grandparents who lived through the Great Depression? Their grandparents who lived through Stagflation of the 1970's? Or their parents who lived through the Great Recession?
  - klodolph 7y ago
    > Easier than what? Easier than Boomers and Generation X, to be clear. I'd be willing to listen to claims that Millennials / Gen Z are doing well if you have some numbers to back those claims, so please, do change my mind. I'm not really interested in lists of economic recessions that happen to have names, especially since the 2008 recession also affected Millennials.
  - larkeith 7y ago
    Easier for members of Gen X and Baby Boomers (note that young people in the workforce during the Recession are generally classified as the older end of the Millenials). From the Federal Reserve Board: > Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth. For debt, millennials hold levels similar to those of Generation X and more than those of the baby boomers. Conditional on their age and other factors, millennials do not appear to have preferences for consumption that differ significantly from those of earlier generations. [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018080pap.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018080pap...
- hiram112 7y ago
  > ... the choice between chemistry and chemical engineering. Both majors are STEM and seem quite similar, but chemical engineering is the one with good job prospects. Anyone know why this is the case? I took chem 1 in college (in the lib arts school), and while it probably wasn't as difficult as most of my classes in the engineering school, it certainly wasn't as easy as, say, the few electives I had to take in sociology, psych, or English. So why do chemical engineers seem to have it even better than CS or CE majors (in terms of salary and job prospects) while most lib arts chem majors are paid crap and require lots of grad school, even PHDs, to get even an entry level research or similar job in industry?
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
"Comparison is the thief of joy." That is beautifully said, and it's going in my permanent quote file. You seem to be indicating that you were quoting from somewhere. Can you tell me where? (I'd like to get the attribution right.)
crooked-v 7y ago
Social media isn't responsible for real purchasing power stagnating [1] while cost of education skyrockets at absurd rates [2]. [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... [2]: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has...
phil248 7y ago
"Keeping up with the Joneses" was an idea far before social media existed. As was worship of the wealthy and celebrities. And the people "most visible" on social media are very specifically the people we choose to follow. Maybe we can ask why do people choose to follow so many of the "richest/best looking/most successful" people, but that's putting the cart before the horse. We could just as easily ask in the 1980's why people buy so many fashion magazines or watch Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. This pattern of behavior transcends media formats.
fullshark 7y ago
Comparison with their parents' lives too, so often that seems to be the complaint.
wonderwonder 7y ago
I don't think it is all due to social media. America is very much seen as the 'Land of Opportunity' where people are lauded for 'pullng themselves up by their bootstraps'. Today's environment though makes that much more difficult for younger generations than it did for older ones. Prior generations are quick to say I did it, why can't you when in reality millenials are in a completely different economic starting block in large part due to the policies and lifestyles of the boomers. On top of the negativity being levelled at them, the simple act of trying to financially survive is exhausting. The differences between the haves and have nots and the difficulty in becoming a 'have' without a firm economic base provided by your family is becoming greater all the time.
faissaloo 7y ago
Or maybe just maybe the fact that I ended up having to play therapist for my sixth form and the fact that my generation is full of suicidal people willing to die for a revolution tomorrow if it came is a sign that there is something deeply wrong with our society.

by 2819b 7y ago

klodolph 7y ago

I disagree 100%. It's easy to find a scapegoat but the reasons are complex, and from data we know that Millennials and Gen Z are having greater difficulty achieving basic levels of economic stability that were somewhat easier for previous generations. Students are graduating with increasing amounts of debt and entering a job market that can make it tough to pay rent if you don't have experience. It's also easy to say things like "more people should go into STEM", which glosses over a couple parts of our reality--we do still need non-STEM employees, teachers, social workers, etc. even though they are not paid well, and even if you do graduate with STEM that doesn't mean you have skills that will land you a decent wage. Just to pick on an example, consider the choice between chemistry and chemical engineering. Both majors are STEM and seem quite similar, but chemical engineering is the one with good job prospects. Likewise, if you do something like mechanical engineering you might be expected to also do electrical and software, the employment prospects for non-generalist engineers is less than it once was.

SolaceQuantum 7y ago
Job prospects in STEM vary widely; S & M are not exactly known for being lucrative, and E is only lucrative in specific subfields.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
supergauntlet 7y ago
It is honestly ludicrous to see the results of decades of economic warfare and the nonstop closing of proverbial doors of economic opportunity done by boomers and to a lesser extent gen X and then boil everything down to "Social media means more people compare their normal to everyone else's best." It isn't that it's not true, it is! Social media sucks for mental health. It's just also true that there are many legitimate reasons to be upset. I say this as a 24 year old that has been very very lucky to have affluent parents and gone to a good university and gotten a good job. I make more money than I honestly think anyone needs at my current cost of living and yet despite this I have so many friends that are barely scraping by. Depending on what stats you go by, the average American household couldn't spare a $400 expense: https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/05/23/guess-how-many-americans-couldnt-cover-a-400-emerg.aspx https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/05/23/guess-how-many-am... That's a fucking Playstation. That's absurd. So sum the constant anxiety of basically no economic safety net, climate change (which is looking to be "how bad", not "if"), social media reminding you of these AND how much better your friends are doing.. Is it any wonder everybody feels like shit?
- seem_2211 7y ago
  I think it's a tricky one, because there are a couple of factors here. It's not just one thing, but rather a ton of things - for example, there is social media which is a great way to see which of your 500 friends is currently on vacation right.this.second (and someone always is). While in some senses there's more opportunity than ever before for some groups (e.g. minorities / women) in the workplace, there's also more competition than ever before as more people go for these jobs. Baby boomers and to a lesser extent, Gen X don't really understand that the economy is different for young people, in that everything that was cheap for them (housing, healthcare and education) is now grossly unaffordable, but the things that were the domain of the rich now cost next to nothing (international travel, cellphones, computers etc). I make a lot of money (I'm 26) compared to most my age. But like most young people in San Francisco, I have a roommate. I couldn't buy a house on my own. But I could fly anywhere in the world with no worries. The housing situation will be fucked in California for the foreseeable future because politicians don't care about the poor and the vulnerable. We look at business efficiency as a good thing (and it broadly is), but I think we don't fully account for the costs, in the inherent stress it places on us all. So we now all need a college degree to get an entry level job. That's led to a bifurcation of the economy, between those with a credential and those without. The climate thing is tricky. I think we'll sort it out, but it is a big problem.
  - jnbiche 7y ago
    > now cost next to nothing...international travel I'd like to know your travel agent. Or could it be that despite your very real housing woes, you're making a high salary (as you say) and don't realize that international travel is still well out of reach for most Americans?
- bartcobain 7y ago
  The issue with social media and mental health is that the topic is just being researched. Millennials and Z's are the consumers in which that technology is being tested and we don't really know all the effects and damages that this new thing is causing on people. We sure know that it is pretty addictive and causes some damages to people who use social media mostly passive and binge on it. Another damage that Social Media does is that now most peoples attention span is quite short, really short actually, and it doesn't help for the workflow. Add the depression(FOMO?) caused from the "comparison is the thief of joy" produced by Social Media and you have a really bad mix that will make you fill like shit on the regular basis.
refurb 7y ago
Millennials and Gen Z are having greater difficulty achieving basic levels of economic stability that were somewhat easier for previous generations Easier than what? Their great grandparents who lived through the Great Depression? Their grandparents who lived through Stagflation of the 1970's? Or their parents who lived through the Great Recession?
- klodolph 7y ago
  > Easier than what? Easier than Boomers and Generation X, to be clear. I'd be willing to listen to claims that Millennials / Gen Z are doing well if you have some numbers to back those claims, so please, do change my mind. I'm not really interested in lists of economic recessions that happen to have names, especially since the 2008 recession also affected Millennials.
- larkeith 7y ago
  Easier for members of Gen X and Baby Boomers (note that young people in the workforce during the Recession are generally classified as the older end of the Millenials). From the Federal Reserve Board: > Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth. For debt, millennials hold levels similar to those of Generation X and more than those of the baby boomers. Conditional on their age and other factors, millennials do not appear to have preferences for consumption that differ significantly from those of earlier generations. [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018080pap.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018080pap...
hiram112 7y ago
> ... the choice between chemistry and chemical engineering. Both majors are STEM and seem quite similar, but chemical engineering is the one with good job prospects. Anyone know why this is the case? I took chem 1 in college (in the lib arts school), and while it probably wasn't as difficult as most of my classes in the engineering school, it certainly wasn't as easy as, say, the few electives I had to take in sociology, psych, or English. So why do chemical engineers seem to have it even better than CS or CE majors (in terms of salary and job prospects) while most lib arts chem majors are paid crap and require lots of grad school, even PHDs, to get even an entry level research or similar job in industry?

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

"Comparison is the thief of joy." That is beautifully said, and it's going in my permanent quote file. You seem to be indicating that you were quoting from somewhere. Can you tell me where? (I'd like to get the attribution right.)

crooked-v 7y ago

Social media isn't responsible for real purchasing power stagnating [1] while cost of education skyrockets at absurd rates [2]. [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us... [2]: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has...

phil248 7y ago

"Keeping up with the Joneses" was an idea far before social media existed. As was worship of the wealthy and celebrities. And the people "most visible" on social media are very specifically the people we choose to follow. Maybe we can ask why do people choose to follow so many of the "richest/best looking/most successful" people, but that's putting the cart before the horse. We could just as easily ask in the 1980's why people buy so many fashion magazines or watch Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. This pattern of behavior transcends media formats.

fullshark 7y ago

Comparison with their parents' lives too, so often that seems to be the complaint.

wonderwonder 7y ago

I don't think it is all due to social media. America is very much seen as the 'Land of Opportunity' where people are lauded for 'pullng themselves up by their bootstraps'. Today's environment though makes that much more difficult for younger generations than it did for older ones. Prior generations are quick to say I did it, why can't you when in reality millenials are in a completely different economic starting block in large part due to the policies and lifestyles of the boomers. On top of the negativity being levelled at them, the simple act of trying to financially survive is exhausting. The differences between the haves and have nots and the difficulty in becoming a 'have' without a firm economic base provided by your family is becoming greater all the time.

faissaloo 7y ago

Or maybe just maybe the fact that I ended up having to play therapist for my sixth form and the fact that my generation is full of suicidal people willing to die for a revolution tomorrow if it came is a sign that there is something deeply wrong with our society.