Social Media

It is a truism to say that spending too much time on social media is bad for mental well-being. But, why? I am not going to talk about its addictive nature. For me, its bad because it constantly shows you the extremes of human condition. It shows you people at their best and at their worst, both in terms of their behaviour and their achievements and failures/misfortunes. Constantly hearing about how great (some) people are doing can excite envy and insecurity. it is one thing to know that there countless people who are infinitely smarter, more talented, more hardworking, more fortunate and more successful than you, and it quite another to have that fact demonstrated to you everyday. On the other hand, constantly hearing about how badly (some) people are doing can spark anything from despondency, fear (that that thing might happen to us) and guilt (for finding life difficult even in the absence of a personal calamity). The banal middle of the human experience is missing on social media. It is healthy to see normal people going about their mundane lives,, with nothing terrific or terrible to report. But, of course, that is boring. Which is why the best strategy is to reduce time spent on social media.