Here comes a very short post about an article I read: Social Media Fuels Low Self-Esteem, Anxiety [Study]
I have been wondering about Social Media and its effects on us for some time. I argued that social media is a tool for communication – at times a hindrance to real communications. Regardless, a good tool to leverage upon for businesses to reach out, connect & engage. The article above suggests that social media can fuel low self-esteem & anxiety.
We see our friend’s Facebook timeline and wonder why their lives are so fulfilling while we’re not doing much with ours. We see millions of tweets & instagrams, everything appears so fiendishly tempting but we haven’t anything to share. We panic when we fail to access our social networks, emails and online sources (speaking of which, I do get worried when I heard about the DNSchanger issue).
I feel that Social Media and online platforms give an avenue to learn more than I could possibly have sitting at my desk; I get to connect with acquaintances whom I would never have felt comfortable calling or texting. But with all its merits, does it kill my self-esteem? I wouldn’t deny it – it probably gives it a hit every now and then.
We see the good things on social media and tend to shelf the negative aspects we see online. Or, the vast amount of “happiness” floods your walls and feeds drowns out the occasional unhappiness. And it’s occasional not due to low frequency of occurrence – it’s less prominent only because we’re often advised against spreading the pessimism. We then compare this imagined bliss with our status and start to gather our defeats. I guess this isn’t so much about social media – it’s a lot more to do with the human mind and its tendency to make comparisons.
What do you think? Does social media kill our self-esteem?
rustic recluse 
I don’t think it kills your self esteem, although there is the temptation to feel jealous if you see, for example, a school friend who appears to have an amazing life and has already made their first million, I think that stems from something already within you, and it would be exactly the same if you had found out another way, so social media isn’t to blame.
As someone who has emigrated abroad, and has friends scattered all over the world, I find it things like facebook really fantastic for keeping in touch with people. If I ever think of someone who i haven’t spoken to in a while, I just need to type their name in to my profile and send a message over, and that is really valuable.
The main problem is if people allow their lives to be governed by social networks. So often when people are at an event now, they’re so busy getting it out onto twitter, facebook, and intagram that they’re not really enjoying the moment.. And that’s a real shame.
Exactly. It helps us to keep in touch with all our acquaintances quickly and at ease when we need to reach out, but after reaching out we stop short at it. My dinners always have these “tweet-breaks” and everyone at the table is checking in on some social site, sharing their meal photos etc. Surely that could’ve waited?
It probably does make us feel a little sad about our own life – it hastens the discovery that we haven’t attained what we wished to, with everyone publicizing about their lives. But I guess you’re right too – we can’t blame social media. It would’ve worked the same way if a celebrity reads about his fellow-celebrity’s achievements on the newspapers.
Thanks for dropping by Alex! 🙂
I agree that social media just amplifies the effect of something already human by broadcasting achievements in real time to hundreds of people. It’s like keeping up with the Joneses – everyone knows in their head that the Joneses can’t be as perfect as they seem, but nobody can let it go. I’d say that social media just connects us on a level that we’re not used to, both in numbers and reality. I can be a completely different person online than I am in person and none of my old acquaintances would know that I’m actually just as miserable as they are. Just give it time and the world will adjust, and then we’ll have another breakthrough to adjust to.
Yep I agree, sometimes we harp a little too much on the perception formed of the character we see on social media, we forget too, that these are but human. And behind all these achievements there’s probably a trove of misery too. Sounds negative, but I think that’s just the case. Thanks for taking time to read and share your thoughts 🙂
Social media is what you make it. If you are a little insecure, then it might amplify your feelings of inadequacy… but I believe that the we just can’t blame social media, we also have to take responsibility for ourselves.
Definitely. It’s the same as reading some newspapers and finding out your pre-school pal has become the latest hit in your industry. Not a great example, but a lot of it is in perspective. I guess social media gives quick information in great availability, sometimes it’s overwhelming. Social media is what we make it to be as we use it, absolutely right.
I really like this post.. I think as long as we realise our friends on social networking are only telling us to good parts we can keep things in perspective. i have done a post on annoying facebook friends here: http://piehowareyou.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/quiz-do-you-have-the-douchiest-facebook-friends/ if you want to check it out! thanks again. x
Thanks, I’ll check it out! 🙂
This strikes me as a tempest in a teapot. The writers were searching for a topic and found this. I think the social media are an excellent way to keep in touch with former friends, make new friends, and stay in touch with what is going on in the world. I don’t see any negatives that amount to a hill of beans! Thanks for visiting my blog!
Indeed, I was reading about quality insights versus “insights for the sake of writing a report” and sometimes, it appears that these reports are written for the sake of hitting a quota. You’ve got cool stuff on your site so I’ll be back for more! 🙂
I suppose social media could affect self-esteem. Maybe someone feels down on him or herself because they don’t have many followers or receive a negative comment. But I think this can happen in face-to-face interactions as well. It probably has more to do with an individual’s temperment, some being more immune than others.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate it!
True too, dependent on each person’s temperament. Thanks for coming by, we’ll keep looking into this matter and many others 🙂
I think the last sentences of your post are key and answer the question you posed. I believe that social media does not kill our self-esteem…it is ourselves that do this by (like you mentioned) making comparisons of our lives to the lives posted on social media sites like Facebook. Let us be thankful for what we , ourselves, DO have and give kudos to our friends’ positive events in our lives — that is something to be thankful for as well!
Thanks Frances! I’m not sure why this was sent to spam but I’m glad I found your comment. We all make comparisons, it’s only a matter of whether we see it as a threat to ourselves. And you’re right – be thankful for what we are.