I sometimes feel that social media should never have existed

Post Reply New Topic

I do sometimes feel that social media should never have been a thing because I seem to think it makes some people like me feel that we "have" to do things by a certain time and look and be a certain way.

It does make me also think would I still be feeling at times lonesome as I do now if social media wasn't around and happier that it wasn't around?

^ Social media has been linked to depression and loneliness. Using social media can be a feeling similar to that of being alone in a busy room, especially if you aren't particularly popular on there.

I would ditch social media if it is getting you down. Have a trial of not using it?

I don't know you chris1989 but I've read a fair few of your topics on WP and it seems to me deeply rooted in your psyche to compare yourself to others and find yourself wanting. My instinct is that in the absence of social media you'd find some other stick to beat yourself with.

Not that I don't believe that social media has become a highly destructive force in our culture and ought to be outlawed.

I just don't think it's the root cause of your problem.

It mostly isn't just social media I compare myself to sometimes. I have been times now were I don't use it as often as I used. I haven't posted any posts or uploaded any photos for a long time except only other people post photos of me. I stopped sometimes posting negative statuses and messages on Facebook knowing it wasn't getting me anywhere and that it was just attention seeking and seeking reassurance from others I didn't know. From the beginning I wanted to feel like fitted in because had nice photos and had more friends. I was getting frustrated because I felt like I wasn't being acknowledged or commented on things I posted to make myself look interesting in the end I resorted to posting unhelpful negative messages, and venting my frustrations for having just a bad day, having no friends, not having or doing what others were doing etc to the point where people kept telling me to stop. I still have Facebook but only to scroll and then leave.

It's commendable that you recognised this and sought to stop.

However, I wonder if you've considered that that behaviour is very similar to what you do on WP?

I don't wish to be unkind, but the pattern is clear - regular new threads covering pretty much the same ground, garnering predictively supportive responses from well-meaning strangers which you generally don't engage with.

I for one would like to see you get involved with other people's threads, maybe tell us about something you're interested in or something that happened in your life that didn't involve you feeling bad when comparing yourself to others.

You might find responses to that sort of interaction equally, possibly even more, edifying.

DuckHairback speaks with much wisdom in this thread, I'm not sure I can add anything but I'd like to co-sign on those sentiments.

^Yes.

There's a lot of different social media sites out there, the worst ones are virtually always the ones that are being driven by ads in terms of what content is shown and is more aimed at increasing the time that you're there, even if it completely destroys your life.

To borrow a YT video, social media sites tend to be roughly 50% unproductive content and 50% non-productive content. If you can really and truly accept that, then it's a lot easier to cut back through the use of browser extensions that block use after a certain amount of use in a given day, or just decide that you're only going to use them for a few hours after you've gotten a certain amount of other stuff done.

Like with anything that's addictive or being used in a way that's detrimental to your well-being, just about any amount of cutting back is probably going to help somewhat.

Envié un mensaje largo a través del botón informe, no sé cómo va. Me temo que tanto escribir para nada.

Dale otro uso a las redes sociales, enseñan cosas útiles, si sabes buscar lo serio y práctico, como ej. poner una cafetera, poner la bombona de butano, desembozar el water, defensa personal...

Yo no utilizo las redes sociales para seguir modas, no entiendo porque la gente las sigue, y no entiendo que ganó siguiéndolas.

Soy nueva, espero que éste foro no funcione como facebook, dónde hoy mismo un posible neurótipico me respondió agresivamente porque no toleraba mis reiterados desahogos sobre el rechazo que padezco de las personas, de lo que también se aprende.

Hoy en día la gente está muy frágil y no aguanta ni lo más mínimo. Me han dicho que estas comunidades se centran más en el desahogo. Hay que sacar la pus de las heridas emocionales como dice el psicólogo Buenaventura del Charco.

I'm not convinced about that. You hear it a lot. I don't think people are any more or less fragile than they have ever been. I do think a certain subset of online commentator use it as a 'truism' without ever supplying any evidence for it.

That's a fair point, if anything has changed, it's probably that people have more opportunities to wuss out of things than they did in the past. As bad as the social safety net in the US is these days compared with some other countries, it's still a massive leap forward compared to what things were like in the late 19th century

But, comparing oneself with others is rarely a good idea, just because of how much you don't see. Especially on social media where people can heavily curate what they show..