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“I believe that first and fore-mostly, our behaviour online all goes back to our sense of worth offline. It also relates to our psychological state, most namely whether we have low self-esteem and other certain tendencies such as narcissism, anxiety and depression, which therefore translates in a need for admiration, for example, if leaning towards narcissism.” – Victoria Halina.
The devasting volume of research pertaining to this generations-old topic has reached a point of clarity. Psychologists Wilcox and Stephen, in their paper titled, ‘Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control‘ stated that a social platform like Facebook could increase self-esteem. “People tend towards presenting a socially desirable, positive self-view to others when online. In turn, this gives individuals an increase in self-esteem, but a decrease in self-control. It all ties in with the idea of keeping up appearances, and painting a picture to the audience that compose of our friends lists and beyond. Individuals can choose information that they post, and keeping up a certain online identity increases self-esteem, but can mask our true personas.”
Furthermore, “For the narcissist, this feeds into the need to be admired and the more reception a post receives, the more is fed into this type of behaviour. For the anxious, online interactions can translate into real-life interaction, and feed into the anxious feeling of whether people like them or not, corresponding with what kind of reception online posts receive. These are but a few examples.”
Social media went from platforms where people were shy and nervous about what they stated or shared. Today, it is a public display of your most intimate thoughts, emotions and moments—dressed up in highly edited pictures, telling a story in itself.
Suppose you were transported back to the ’80s. Would you in the middle of a school assembly have stood up, walked on stage with an A1 sized poster, announced what you and your friends ate over the weekend, how your dog looked cute in a picture, your opinions on vaccines, how your boyfriend is more of a lion than a turtle according to a study you did. You then placed the A1 poster in the centre of the stage, with a pen, allowing everyone in the assembly to come up and comment on what you had just blurted out? Seams insane, yet you do this daily on social media.
The thought of a public announcement of our intimate selves is terrifying when placed into reality, yet, this is the process of social media, and we celebrate it. There is a dark need for us to be appreciated, revered, and adored by people without much physical effort. Regardless of our actual reality or situation, social media offers the opportunity to create the life you want.
Dropping the veil and discussing the real-life behind the image created on social media, Tracy Clayton, host of the BuzzFeed podcast Another Round. (Hat tip Quartz.), asked the following on Twitter, “I’m curious. if you’re comfortable doing so, post a picture of you that you shared on social media where you were actually having a really tough time in life even tho you look perfectly fine in the picture.
— Tracy Boomeisha-Ann Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) July 11, 2018
According to the article by Jessica Stillman on Inc.com, “People shared a torrent of posts about the reality behind seemingly cheerful vacation snaps, glamorous selfies, smiling family portraits, and sports triumphs. Happy-looking couples confessed to fighting moments before the photo, while others bravely told of the mental health issues they were hiding in their smiling posts.”
Speaking to a god, dead loved ones, or sharing fitness routines on a timeline speak volumes about your mental well-being. A fact posted on The Fact Site stated, “People who post their fitness routine on Facebook are more likely to have psychological problems.” As illustrated above, this all forms part of a more significant problem in our lives. Scroll down your timeline; how much of it is real? Does your real-life match the one you have created on digital platforms? Or are you trying to compensate?
Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
Sources:
- https://blog.usejournal.com/the-psychology-of-social-media-why-we-feel-the-need-to-share-18c7d2d1236
- https://www.thefactsite.com/1000-interesting-facts/
- https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/people-are-revealing-truth-behind-their-happy-looking-social-media-posts-its-heartbreaking.html
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