Facebook, Instagram... and the summer you’re missing out on.

Social media is taking us away from appreciating the everyday.

Instagram Instagram taken on the beaches of Formenteraincredible images of vacations spent in London, some selfies taken at fashion macro-festivals...

Let's face it: the interest is not so much in the beauty of what you see as in the fact of being able to say: "I've been there!I've been there!". We use social networks as if they were an extension of our body and, as such, we project ourselves on them trying to offer the best possible image. The problem comes, many times, when you see that what others show is more attractive than what you can show yourself.Could it be that Instagram and Facebook are enhancing the feeling of envy?

A question of self-perception

This was discussed in the article on FOMO Syndrome: new technologies and the digital age. They encourage a generalized fear of not living life as intensely as (it seems) others do.. However, on vacation, this can become more acute.

Just look at the extent to which photos of the most expensive destinations and exclusive locations go viral. Let's add another ingredient to this cocktail: the most famous and richest people have the most followers on social networks - even Twitter and Instagram suggest we follow them when we haven't even launched our new user account yet!

Strangely enough, this may mean that being subjected to a continuous flurry of continuous flurry of ideal summer images makes us feel the makes us feel under pressure to achieve experiences comparable to the ones we see... just when those images tend to convey fun, relaxation and freedom to do what you want.

In part, this is what makes us increasingly accompanied by technological supports that allow us to take pictures anywhere and in almost any condition: smartphones with good built-in cameras, submersible cameras, selfie sticks, etc. A moment not immortalized by means of a photograph is like a moment not lived, because it cannot be shared massively through social networks.

But the problem with this is not just that we lack a camera at the right moment: it's that we need those moments to happen in the desired quantity and in the required quantities.. It is not enough to experience pleasant sensations and situations: in addition, those experiences that we live have to be able to be photographed and have to be recognized by others as something to envy. People will be more impressed with the Iguazu Falls than with photos taken in a massif in Antarctica, even if the latter is your favorite vacation destination.

Facebook and envy

To what extent is it true that seeing how much fun others are having on social networks makes us feel bad? Certainly, it is a somewhat diffuse subject and not too easy to address scientifically, but there is some evidence that reinforces this idea.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Generalshows in its results that passively using Facebook for a few minutes (scrolling vertically to see the posts posted by others) enhances the feeling of envy and, thus, decreases emotional well-being.. 

Other research published in PLOS ONE came up with similar results, and added another interesting fact: face-to-face interactions did not have the same effects on subjective well-being as interactions via Facebook. In fact, they made the participants in the experiment feel better, the opposite of what happened with the use of the social network.

This would therefore serve to reject the hypothesis that people feel bad about any form of social interaction. The envy and relative discomfort that seems to be associated with the use of Facebook would be part of the consequences of being exposed to images and messages that others have filtered to offer a desirable image of themselves.

And the fact is that, in fact, there is a very negative side to the use of networks: "Depersonalization and (in)communication on social networks."

The doses of Instagram and Facebook, with awareness and in the right measure.

Solutions to avoid going through this? The binomial Facebook - envy could have deep roots considering the power we have in shaping the image of ourselves that we want to give on the Internet. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be too much research on this, so it is difficult to know what is the best strategy to deal with this.

However, the likely and most intuitive solution is to take a philosophical approach to the use of Instagram. taking a philosophical approach to the use of Instagram, Twitter and other digital platforms.. On the one hand, we can remind ourselves that to believe that what we are seeing is representative of the lives of others would be to fall into a delusion. On the other, we could, for example, also give ourselves a "vacation" from social media. In this way, we are likely to encounter many more stimulating experiences, even if we are not looking for them.