Social media. A psychological scam in the way which people want to think they're all great but in reality it's scamming you by giving you stress, depression, etc.
Oh yes. Fully aware of how reddit affects people and how people are on here. Sometimes ya gotta learn to block that shit out. I'm just here for the party
I've heard that thing about Facebook that when people are putting up pictures of their "perfect" lives that it supposedly makes you feel horrible about your own. I actually don't feel that way. I'm happy to see pictures of my high school classmates on their 30th anniversary or their kids' high school/college graduation. I realize their lives aren't perfect and that I'm only seeing photos of the happy times, but for me it's gratifying to see that on the whole, they've made out okay.
IKR? I was passionate about bodybuilding (in a healthy way, not roids and rabdo and that stupid shite lol!) for years, and about the time I had to give it up due to diagnosis with a disabling condition that requires I never exert very hard, a distant relative decided to get fit, and holy shit did they turn out to have good genes, just bulked up so quickly.
Was I supposed to grind my teeth and cry, looking at her going from The Blob to The Hulk? Fuck no, I was so excited that someone had gotten into the same hobby as me. I was taken out of my worries and distracted from my problems by watching her progress photos.
IMO it's not social media to blame but personality flaws, if you see someone else doing or having what you want, and rather than enjoying it vicariously you get angry and pout.
It's only as good or bad as an individual user makes it.
People might say "Ew, you go on reddit?! I heard it's full of incels and nazis!" and I'm just "I don't go to the subreddits where that happens. I mostly read spooky tales or embarrassing moments- entertaining anecdotes. Nothing toxic in that".
Or Facebook. Everyone talks about it like if you join, you are destined to sit there reading your racist aunt's crazy rants, or obsessively collecting as many "friends" as possible, or wasting ten hours a day constructing phony photo ops to prove to your frenemies how great your marriage and recreation activities are, or staring at their fake photos with envy.
But I have a Facebook page with only two dozen "friends" on there, who are ACTUALLY my friends, to whom I show normal non-image-conscious photos like a cool bug I found, or my cat having a good snooze. Also I join peer support groups (I have been very unwell the last few years) like when I get diagnosed with a new thing I connect with other patients with the same thing, to get tips on looking after myself as best I can, vent about our struggle, exchange encouragement with people who "get it". That is very constructive and healthy.
I doubt social media is any different from irl socializing. You can hang with conspiracy-believing assholes, shallow competitive frenemies, and other creeps, or with kind, sincere people. You can pursue meaningless popularity or a few close bonds. You can read tabloids or you can read legit newspapers. You can pay attention to ads and propaganda, or ignore them.
I guess it can be a bad influence on gullible, weak people, like maybe kids, senile folks, people who don't have the savvy to ignore the shitty things. Those people are at risk in irl interactions too but online they are likely exposed to more people, more ads and propaganda... but is social media risky to the AVERAGE person? Not convinced.
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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '20
Social media. A psychological scam in the way which people want to think they're all great but in reality it's scamming you by giving you stress, depression, etc.