Get ready for a random thread about why I hate social media (even though I use it).

1) It lowers the empathy of teens and young adults by making them more narcissistic (Twenge 2013) and engenders feelings of depression as anxiety (Twenge 2018, 2019)

(cont.) Narcissism is flourishing like it never has before. We’re consumed with showing people what we look like, what we’re wearing, what we’re doing. If not that, we’re consumed with looking at what other people look like, what they’re wearing, what they’re doing. And ...

... we compare those people to ourselves. The tragedy of that last part is that what we’re using to compare others to ourselves is a highlight reel. People post the best of themselves; it is the highlight of the good things.

2) that leads my into my next point. Social media ...

... allows someone to share with the world a version of themself and their life tailored and curated by them. It’s a manufactured stage aimed to please.

On this stage, comments and likes supersede truth and authenticity. The focus shifts from a genuine self portrait to ...

... whatever will generate positive feedback.

3) The focus on feedback rather than on truth and authenticity ties this thread back to the 2013 Twenge study about rising narcissism and falling empathy in young adults.

In the United States, whose capitalist structure ...