Does Social Media make people miserable?



When I was in business school, I speculated that this effect caused a lot of unhappiness. Rather than celebrating their incredible good fortune, far too many of my classmates would compare themselves to the titans of industry they read about and conclude that they could never measure up. Just because you’re unlikely to match the accomplishments of a Jeff Bezos doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up and call for the Prozac.


In one sense, this access has a democratizing effect, much like the popular tabloid practice of running unflattering photos of starlets shopping at the local Costco. But it also has the effect of making the rich and famous feel more like peers. And if they feel more like peers, we’re more likely to use them as a basis for comparison.

It used to be that people would compare themselves to other people in their neighborhood or town. And while there’s bound to be a successful car dealer or a popular local teacher, at least we could realistically aspire to similar levels of success. Athletes and Hollywood celebrities were like far-off deities. Now, that distance has vanished, causing many to wonder, “If Snooki can be rich and famous, why aren’t I?”


But the answer isn’t to ban Twitter and Facebook. They’re just the disease vector.


2 thoughts on “Does Social Media make people miserable?

  1. Anonymous

    As JJ said to her preK teacher one day, "Let's not make invidious comparisons."

  2. Thanks for the interesting blog, Chris.

    On the other side of things, it seems like social media can be a tool for personal growth because it forces us to quantify and articulate who we are and what we represent.

    It can be difficult to see ourselves clearly without a mirror, and a public profile can be a step in the right direction.

    Maybe it all depends on how we choose to use it, rather than letting it use us.

Leave a Reply
