As I sit in my sweatpants, propped up in my bed inside my Broadway-themed room that I insisted on when I was 14, I log in to Facebook like I do on most morning.
It’s not like my morning is unusual – 91% of U.S. millennials are on Facebook and a high percentage of those report checking the platform multiple times per day.
Jeff proposed to Jina last night, how adorable and someone even filmed it! Miriam posted her latest sonogram. Paulina’s maid-of-honor just added a pic of the smiling bride-to-be at the salon getting ready to be “made up” for her wedding today. David is traveling to London for work, he’s one of the few kids I knew growing up that got into a lucrative start-up while he was in college and now he’s making six figures. Tara’s in Florence, where she travel blogs for a living and gets three months off per year. Henry just signed a contract with NASCAR (!) yesterday.
And here I am, wearing sweatpants in my childhood bedroom in my parent’s house where I currently reside. It’s easy to feel inadequate or sorry for yourself without consciously knowing it.
Retrieved from GuardianLv.com in reference to a study from the University of Michigan. 82 students underwent a social media study. They found that the more time a person spends on Facebook, the more his or her feelings of well-being decrease and feelings of depression increase.
“Social media depression” is a very real phenomenon.
Particularly for college students and millennials, I don’t think that this topic gets the appropriate attention that it deserves.
Studies have shown that heavy Facebook use is correlated to feelings of depression and inadequacy, particularly among college students. Many young millennials report that constantly seeing the great achievements of their peers leaves them feeling like they should be doing more – or better.
Nonetheless, it’s important to remember that we only show our best selves on social media. Why post about a boring day at work or particularly trying argument with a family member? Why post about anything other than great achievements or happiness? Our friends and family don’t care that we went to the bathroom, had oatmeal for breakfast, or hate our jobs. Even though we spend so much time on social media, so much of our life goes undocumented on Facebook. We are all fighting our own very private battles.
So before you feel jealous of Paulina’s wedding, remember everything we don’t know about her life. Distance yourself from social media at times, and remember that someone is also probably jealous of you, too.
Do you have any tips for combatting social media anxiety or depression? Do you believe it’s a phenomenon that needs significantly more attention? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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I can relate. I am actually a little over the millennial age however I think it transcends through the generations. I too see people post their happy moments and feel envious. I even wonder why some people get so many likes expecially when I know them personally and wonder, why? They don’t have the best heart or best intentions sometimes but boy they are popular on Facebook. Whoops, there is my own personal rant. I think we can all be drawn into the negativity or feelings of inadequacy especially when we see or feel others are doing so much better than us. We have to think back before Facebook when we were mainly connected to our close friends and family and remember that is who matters. That person we knew from high school who is so successful now we need to step back and think they probably have the same problems that we do and just let it go.
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