There is currently a great urgency to appear on social media, but are we as happy as we show on our profiles?This question arises from the concept of “happiness”, perhaps fictional, which is continuously issued on networks.
If we browse a social network, will we find messages of knowledge traveling the world full of smiles, or perhaps a photo of this friend?The one we haven’t talked to for weeks? With his girlfriend, extremely happy and in love as if he had just come out of a movie.
- According to the annual social media study prepared by the IAB in Spain.
- We spend about 37 hours connected a week.
- Or about 22% of our time.
Therefore, according to the IAB study, our social life is closely linked to the social platforms of the Internet, so it is not surprising that we use this tool to send messages to the people around us.
In short, we are interconnected to the Internet and social networks, and they are part of our day-to-day life, so it is important to ask yourself: how much reality do we show on social media?
We urgently need to tell the world how happy we are, even if that happiness may not be true.
According to various surveys, there is a real need to please others, represented by the need for social approval and social media appearance.
This is what a study of the University of Mexico called social revaluation: more than a distortion, a need for social approval.
Therefore, the desire to appear on social media seems to be fostered by an inherent need for social approval, to be accepted and reinforced by others.
For example, do we feel a sense of well-being when we post one?Selfie? And we get a lot of likes and flattering comments. After all, who doesn’t like praise?
This is where the attitude of adopting certain customs or activities arises in order to want to appear or give a good impression to others, especially on social networks.
The psychologist José Elas, president of the Spanish Association of Hypnosis, talks about the adoption of certain habits, gestures and attitudes that seek to project a good image (an image that receives positive recognition), to show others that we are happy, although be Is not always true or are we not convinced ?.
In other words, according to the author, we satisfy our need for social approval by showing an image of us that may not be part of reality.
According to a study by the University of California, people’s moods are altered and conditioned by posts they see on social media. The same study says that “published content seeks to convey an image of ‘contagious happiness’.
According to the study, perceiving the joy and well-being of others leads us to want to reach this state, and therefore encourages us to publish similar content, producing the effect of “contagious happiness”.
In that sense, demonstrate? Online happiness is contagious and promotes the desire to appear on social media, i. e. being part of this continuous wave of “happy” messages and photos.
Yolanda Perez, a phD in psychology, says: “She’s got it all. People who show the truth, something more unreal and even people who show the truth halfway, are they the most common?.
In addition, the author adds: “We show how beautiful we are, how kind and smiling we are in an instant, but these photos that are real do not show our reality, only a part of it, because the day has 24 hours and it is impossible to smile so long ?.
The reality we project on networks is certainly not complete, because it is impossible to feel happy all the time: life is full of positive and negative emotions, and ignoring them because of the system only hurts us.
In short, it is clear that everything we see on networks does not reflect reality, the appearance on social networks, as we have explained, is relative.
We must not make the mistake of thinking that there are people who live 24 hours a day in a state of maximum well-being: we all have moments of crisis, sadness and anguish.
Having bad days is part of life and makes us appreciate even more the good times, anyway, no one has an absolutely perfect life.
“Feeling all kinds of emotions is what enriches our lives. ” – Daniel Goleman-