Status: Occurring
Prediction: Social Media is a misery machine
What kind of voyeuristic, Orwellian nightmare was this?? And, why were my ‘friends’ so damn old and frumpy?! Where were the celebrities, billionaires, and supermodels? Was I not the youthful, gregarious intellectual I thought I was? Surely, this was a mistake…
Oh, on Facebook are you? On LinkedIn? Did you know that your old high school acquaintance Jenny just got back from an amazing party? You weren’t invited. Have you heard Jerry, the kiss-ass who made your last job unbearable, just got a big promotion? Or that the girl you took on one date six years ago looks great in a bikini? Sure you do. You know it all. And it’s making you miserable.
We’re connected to more useless, peripheral people than ever. We’ll never see most of them in real life ever again. And prepare to die if you ever need one of them for anything real like a blood transfusion – or a ride to the airport. Still, they consume our time and our thoughts. And the aggregate effect of their carefully curatedonline personas and seemingly-perfect lives makes us feel like losers. Er, “unhappy”.
What Happened
Eight years too late…
"I predict that a consensus will emerge by the end of 2019, and that it will be that heavy use of social media damages many young teenage girls, reducing their odds of success in life." @NYUStern colleague @JonHaidt https://t.co/Os349jHlmR
— Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) April 4, 2019
Most unhappy people are unhappy for the exact same reason, Jan 2018
Teens who spent more than five hours a day online were twice as likely to be unhappy as those who spent less than an hour a day.
How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness, May 2018
Youngsters report problems with anxiety, depression, sleep and “FoMO”
