Commentary: How social media can crush your self-esteem

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Unrealistic comparisons and pandemic stress makes a poor combination for the self-esteem of social media users, says a psychologist. Skiptomaincontent Close Close TopStories Singapore Asia World Commentary Sustainability Business Sport COVID-19 LatestNews Discover CNAInsider Watch LiveTV NewsReports Documentaries&Shows TVSchedule Listen CNA938Live Podcasts RadioSchedule SpecialReports SingaporeParliament Interactives Lifestyle Entertainment Women Wellness Living Style&Beauty Dining Travel Luxury Experiences Obsessions People RemarkableLiving CNAEyewitness Sendusanewstip BrandedContent BusinessBlueprint HealthMatters TheAsianTraveller Weather Edition: Singapore Asia Search TrendingTopics JosephSchooling NDR2022 monkeypox SriLanka Ukraineinvasion COVID-19 Omicron Malaysia CNAExplains climatechange Wellness Dailyround-up FollowCNA Followournews Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn RSS RecentSearches TrendingTopics JosephSchooling NDR2022 monkeypox SriLanka Ukraineinvasion COVID-19 Omicron Malaysia CNAExplains climatechange Wellness Dailyround-up Advertisement Advertisement Commentary Commentary:Howsocialmediacancrushyourself-esteem Unrealisticcomparisonsandpandemicstressmakesapoorcombinationfortheself-esteemof socialmediausers,saysapsychologist. (Photo:LuxiYangforTheNewYorkTimes) SabrinaLaplante SabrinaLaplante 02Feb202206:09AM (Updated:03Feb202208:45AM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn MONTREAL,Canada:Weallhaveanaturaltendencytocompareourselvestoothers,whetherintentionallyornot,onlineoroffline. Suchcomparisonshelpusevaluateourownachievements,skills,personalityandouremotions.This,inturn,influenceshowweseeourselves. Butwhatimpactdothesecomparisonshaveonourwell-being?Itdependsonhowmuchcomparingwedo. Comparingourselvesonsocialmediatopeoplewhoareworseoffthanwearemakesusfeelbetter.Comparingourselvestopeoplewhoaredoingbetterthanus,however,makesusfeelinferiororinadequateinstead. Thesocialmediaplatformwechoosealsoaffectsourmorale,asdocrisissituationsliketheCOVID-19pandemic. AsaPhDstudentinpsychology,Iamstudyingincels- menwhoperceivetherejectionofwomenasthecauseoftheirinvoluntarycelibacy. Ibelievethatsocialcomparison,whichplaysasmucharoleinthesemarginalgroupsasitdoesinthegeneralpopulation,affectsourgeneralwell-beingintheageofsocialmedia. Related: Commentary:Benefitsanddrawbackswhencitizensusesocialmediatoraiseconcerns Commentary:Ourunkindnessonsocialmediaisamirrortosociety ANOPTIMALLEVELOFCOMPARISON Thedegreeofsocialcomparisonthatindividualscarryoutisthoughttoaffectthedegreeofmotivationtheyhave. AccordingtoastudybyresearchersatRuhrUniversityinBochum,Germany,thereisanoptimallevelofperceiveddifferencebetweentheselfandothersthatmaximisestheeffectsofsocialcomparison. Specifically,ifweseeourselvesasvastlysuperiortoothers,wewillnotbemotivatedtoimprovebecausewealreadyfeelthatweareinagoodposition. Yet,ifweperceiveourselvesasveryinferior,wewillnotbemotivatedtoimprovesincethegoalseemstoodifficulttoachieve. Inotherwords,theresearchersnote,beyondorbelowtheoptimallevelofperceiveddifferencebetweenoneselfandanother,apersonnolongermakesanyeffort. Byperceivingoneselfasinferior,theindividualwillexperiencenegativeemotions,guiltandloweredprideandself-esteem. (APPhoto/JennyKane,File) UNREALISTICCOMPARISONSONSOCIALMEDIA Socialcomparisonsthereforehaveconsequencesbothforourbehaviourandforourpsychologicalwell-being. However,comparingyourselftoothersatarestaurantdinnerdoesnotnecessarilyhavethesameeffectascomparingyourselftoothersonFacebook. Itiseasiertoinventanexcitingexistenceorembellishcertainaspectsofthingsonasocialmediaplatformthanitisinreallife. Theadventofsocialmedia,whichallowsustosharecontentwherewealwaysappearinourbestlight,hasledmanyresearcherstoconsiderthepossibilitythatthisamplifiesunrealisticcomparisons. ResearchshowsthatthemoretimepeoplespendonFacebookandInstagram,themoretheycomparethemselvessocially.Thissocialcomparisonislinked,amongotherthings,tolowerself-esteemandhighersocialanxiety. AstudyconductedbyresearchersattheNationalUniversityofSingaporeexplainstheseresultsbythefactthatpeoplegenerallypresentpositiveinformationaboutthemselvesonsocialmedia. Theycanalsoenhancetheirappearancebyusingfilters,whichcreatetheimpressionthatthereisabigdifferencebetweenthemselvesandothers. Inturn,researchersworkingatFacebookobservedthatthemorepeoplelookedatcontentwherepeopleweresharingpositiveaspectsoftheirlivesontheplatform,themorelikelytheyweretocomparethemselvestoothers. Related: Commentary:ChineseofficialshavefilledtheTrumpvacuumonTwitter Commentary:ShouldyoubesharingyourCOVID-19vaccineselfiesonsocialmedia? Commentary:Shadytacticsininfluencercampaignsmakesocialmediathenewfrontierforstubbingoutsmoking COVID-19:LESSNEGATIVESOCIALCOMPARISON However,couldtheeffectofthiscomparisoninaparticularlystressfulcontextliketheCOVID-19pandemicbedifferent? AstudyfromresearchersatKoreUniversityinEnna,Italy,showedthatbeforelockdowns,highlevelsofonlinesocialcomparisonwereassociatedwithgreaterdistress,lonelinessandalesssatisfyinglife.Butthiswasnolongerthecaseduringlockdowns. Onereasonforthiswouldbethatbycomparingthemselvestoothersduringthelockdown,peoplefelttheyweresharingthesamedifficultexperience.Thatreducedthenegativeimpactofsocialcomparisons. So,comparingoneselftoothersonlineduringdifficulttimescanbeapositiveforceforimprovingrelationshipsandsharingfeelingsoffearanduncertainty. ADIFFERENTEFFECTDEPENDINGONTHESOCIALMEDIA Therearedistinctionstobemadedependingonwhichsocialmediaplatformapersonisusing.ResearchersattheUniversityofLorraine,France,considerthatsocialmediaplatformsshouldnotbealllumpedtogether. Forexample,theuseofFacebookandInstagramisassociatedwithlowerwell-being,whileTwitterisassociatedwithmorepositiveemotionsandhigherlifesatisfaction. (APPhoto/JennyKane,File) Onepossibleexplanation:FacebookandInstagramareknowntobeplacesforpositiveself-presentation,unlikeTwitter,whereitismoreappropriatetoshareone’srealopinionsandemotions. TryingtogetsocialsupportonsocialmediaduringtheCOVID-19pandemicmayreactivatenegativeemotionsinsteadofreleasingthem,dependingonwhichsocialmediaplatformapersonisusing. Manythingsmotivateustocompareourselvessocially.Whetherwelikeitornot,socialmediaexposesustomoreofthosemotivations. Dependingonthetypeofcontentthatisbeingshared,whetheritispositiveornegative,wetendtorefertoitwhenweareself-evaluating. Sharingcontentthatmakesusfeelgoodaboutourselvesandgarnerspraisefromothersisnice,butyouhavetoconsidertheeffectofthesepostsonothers. Yetoverall,sharingyourdifficultiesinwords,picturesorvideoscanstillhavepositiveeffectsandbringpsychologicalbenefits. SabrinaLaplanteisa doctoralcandidateinpsychologyatUniversityofQuebecinMontreal(UQAM).ThiscommentaryfirstappearedonTheConversation. Related: Commentary:PostPSLE,whatifa12-year-oldwantsanInstagramorTikTokaccount? Commentary:FacebookfoundInstagramcouldhurtteens’mentalhealth,butisitdoingenoughtoaddressit? Commentary:Instagramhastoomanyinfluencersandpeoplearegettingbored Source:CNA/ep RelatedTopics socialmedia mentalhealth Influencer Wellbeing Advertisement Alsoworthreading Contentisloading... Advertisement Expandtoreadthefullstory Thisbrowserisnolongersupported Weknowit'sahassletoswitchbrowsersbutwewantyourexperiencewithCNAtobefast,secureandthebestitcanpossiblybe. Tocontinue,upgradetoasupportedbrowseror,forthefinestexperience,downloadthemobileapp. Upgradedbutstillhavingissues?Contactus



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