How social media makes you unhappy
Despite being able to fly to the moon, go to school, not having to work before the age of 18, and having the highest incomes ever seen in the history of mankind, a problem is on the rise. Depression. According to Twenge et al depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015 [1]. Interestingly, adolescents who spent more time on new media were more likely to report mental health issues. Whereas adolescents who spent more time on non-screen activities were less likely. How is this possible?
Phones and technology have become an extension of ourselves. On average, American 8-to-12-year-olds spent 4 hours and 44 minutes on screen media each day. Teens average 7 hours and 22 minutes. These results exclude use for school or homework [2]. Another study showed that people who are separated from their phones perform worse on a test than people who have their phone with them [3]. They conducted a study in which one group was taking a test without their phones and one group was taking the same test with their phones with them. The group who had their phones with them performed significantly better. The researchers suggest that separation anxiety from their phones results in worse cognitive abilities. Lead author Russel Clayton suggests that the phone becomes an extension of the self, such that when separated, we experience a less ‘self’. Here are some statistics to show phone addiction amongst people: on average smartphone users unlock their phones 150 times a day, 46% of surveyed parents in the UK said they feel addicted to their mobile devices, 66% of the population shows signs of nomophobia, and 50% of the respondents said to feel uneasy when leaving their phone at home [4]. This being said, phones are not making us happier and have shown to have a negative effect on the psychological well-being of users.
One problem of social media is the constant impulses of comparing yourself to others on social media. Every time you refresh, new photos show people having fun, portraying their best version of themselves. This is not a realistic representation of their real-life, yet we still feel the urge to compare ourselves to this and feel worse if we don’t feel like we don’t live up to that standard created by social media. The tendency to compare ourselves is not just human-like, in an experiment conducted on monkeys the same tendency occurs [5]. Two monkeys in adjacent cages are rewarded differently for giving the scientist a stone. One gets a cucumber in return and the other gets a grape in return. In the first round, both monkey enjoy their reward, but in the second round, the first monkey throws the cucumber back at the scientist instead of enjoying it like he did in the last round. What was fine in the first round, is no longer acceptable, because there has occurred the possibility of enjoying a grape. Data on income disparity among humans find the same results. The amount of money alone is not a good indicator of life satisfaction alone, income equality seems to be the drive for satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In your pocket right now you got a device that allows you to compare yourself to others anytime. Go to the page of your favorite actor and you will find the ‘perfect’ life, this pushes psychological triggers that drive us crazy.
Another problem is that social media is fake. One normal picture with the right filter can project an image of a life far better than the life that is authentically experienced. One might feel very awful for the entire day, but go out to eat dinner somewhere, post a filtered photo of their delicious food on Instagram and no one sees the other side of that day. No one is going to post a picture of themselves crying, or about how insecure they are about certain things. The bar that is being set on social media of your social life is not attainable and more importantly fake. Struggling and failing is part of life, it is what makes you grow and it is what keeps us alive.
Social media is not based on direct communication. Very important aspects of life are being learned through direct conversation. As a species were are attuned to social cues. Through social media, we are not able to see body language, facial expression, and even smaller kinds of vocal reactions are not perceived. Learning to make friends, have a job interview, and engage in relationships have to be learned and this comes through real-life experiences and not through your phone.
All in all seems social media to be doing a very bad job at making people happy, and the intention of sharing with friends and connecting with people seems to have been far exceeded. I would like to say to all of you? If you ever feel like it is all being too much, try going off social media for a while. Start reflecting on your own life, try to improve your life day by day and try to be a better self than you were tomorrow. Everyone lives their own lives, likes different things, gets content by different things and have their own struggles. Stop trying to compare yourself to the world and try to get the most out of your own life.
References
[1] Corrigendum: Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time. (2019). Clinical Psychological Science, 7(2), 397–397. doi:10.1177/2167702618824060
