How Social Media Is Making You Poor (And Aloof)
How Social Media Is Making You Poor (And Aloof)
Social media can have a detrimental effect on your finances and mental health to the degree that people try to keep up with the Joneses. I ran across the image above awhile ago and it made me think about how social media subconsciously influences everything we do (including young impressionable minds). This comes from the ads that your favorite celebrity endorses in their posts to impossible beauty standards to follow that somehow are the holy grail to reverse aging. From $40 teas that claim to make you skinny to $30 gummy bears that turn you into Rapunzel, these often generate the poster millions in revenue. How can you trust someone who is getting paid to sell you something – particularly something so overpriced? How will you know which product actually works and which one doesn’t? Is it just a placebo effect?
There can be benefits to social media such as being a source of information, a way to connect (network) with people, to share a glimpse of your life (not meant to be your life), and a form of recreation but it has since turned into a marketing environment to sell products. According to data from Statista as of April 2021, globally 18-34 year old’s make up the largest audience on Instagram alone. Add influence to the mix (aka celebrities) and they can basically have anyone trust what they sell. There are no hard feelings, they are just doing their job but that does not mean you need to buy everything they sell. It’s like selling water to a fish. You do not need to empty your pockets to fill theirs. Influencers marketing your gullibility is nothing personal, it’s just…business.
Nobody is like anybody else because everyone is different and there is beauty in variety. The beauty standard is just that – a standard. It doesn’t have to be your standard. Do not let social media spoon feed you or inject you with the toxicity, judgements, perfectionism, self-hate, or the need to buy more. Social media does not have to make you poor. There should be a balanced use of social media which does not replace living in the moment.
Only you can control the amount of social media that dispenses into your system. Just like an IV infusion pump is used to control volume, social media consumption also needs to be controlled so that you do not overdose. Maybe a social media hiatus or being disciplined to limit use will be beneficial to both your mental health and your bank account which is priceless.