Photo: Andy Smith / Corbis
Social media makes you unhappy? Is only partially true
Carefree scrolling through the Instagram feed can be more dangerous than you would expect. New studies show that social networks are jealous. Why that can be good, we reveal here.
The joint study by the TU Darmstadt and the Humboldt University in Berlin proves that more than a third of users feel frustrated and sad. Because with filters aufmotzte holiday photos, party snapshots or outfit pictures of others fuel envy. The "hurt" users react with a reinforced self-presentation. The result: Each user puts his life in a more positive light than it really is, thus triggering an "envy spiral".
Log out, lock your smartphone and live offline forever?
Sure, jealousy belongs to the troupe of the seven deadly sins with his mates, pride, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. And the Instagram idiot stands there with his emotional mixture of sadness (because he does not have something), anger (because the other has something) and fear (because he does not know if he will ever have it) pretty stupid there. Because he has no claim to what the other post there.
But: Envy can be used to draw strength and achieve great goals - if one stands for them. Often behind envy are only desires that rumble so deep inside us that they only become clear to us when a friend meets them and posts the result on Instagram.
Envy lifts the curtain that our psyche has pushed before our longings so we do not have to deal with them. To push him aside would be to actually address those longings instead of pushing them before us as usual. Will that hurt? Very likely, you know how much work and courage it takes. On the other hand, only those who fulfill their wishes will be able to fulfill them.
And if you let both legs dangle in the infinity pool in the Maldives, just take a selfie and post on Instagram .
