If your Facebook feed is anything like mine, it’s filled with photos of exotic beach holidays, family shots taken by expensive photographers, and other such content designed to make our friends’ lives look fantastic.
It’s nice to stay in touch with our loved ones. But Facebook has devolved from a way to communicate to a place where people go and highlight the best portions of their lives. The problem? They leave out the not-so-glamorous moments.
If we’re inundated with only the best from everyone, we begin to think our lives stink in comparison. If friends from high school are all posting selfies from atop the Eiffel Tower, we want to go too. Jealousy can be a crushing emotion.
There are really only two ways to avoid this. You can either use great mental strength to realize what’s happening or stop logging on. Many people are choosing the latter. It’s the easier choice.
There’s a stronger case for staying on Twitter or LinkedIn, especially if you use either service professionally. I follow a number of personal finance and investing commentators on Twitter, and their comments constantly force me to think about every aspect of my financial life.
But it’s easy for Twitter to turn into something similar, especially if you interact with your social group on there.
The bottom line? Be careful when mindlessly scrolling through Facebook or Twitter posts. You might be subconsciously tricked into spending more money. You might end up further ahead by deleting social media completely.
