Over the last couple of years, I've seen quite a few articles that warn against Facebook because it will cause depression. The argument is that everyone posts about the happy things in their lives, and none of the sad things, so we all have a skewed perception of others, and then get sad about ourselves. Like "All my FB friends have awesome jobs/cars/relationships/vacations, and my life is terrible!!" This may be true, but it always bothers me for a couple of reasons:
First, if you aren't happy with your life, will it really help to know your friends/acquaintances/strangers on the internet are also miserable? I think that would just make me more depressed. Also, it's never wise to base your contentment on what other people appear to have, whether being envious of them, or thinking at least you are better off than them.
Second, you SHOULD NOT BE INTERNET FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE IF YOU CAN'T BE HAPPY FOR THEM WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO THEM! Sorry to get shouty, but seriously. If I'm scrolling through Facebook and see that someone I'm "friends" with went on an awesome vacation, and my first thought is "ugh, why do they get to spend 3 weeks in Europe?!" then it probably means I don't actually like this person. Un-friend immediately! Or at the very least, hide them from your news-feed.
Also, how is this different than in real life? If I ask one of my co-workers how they are doing, they always say "good!" and unless we are pretty close, that's all I know. Isn't it just common sense to know that you are getting a tiny glimpse of anyone's life by your interactions with them, whether online or IRL?
And finally, I don't know about you, but I have plenty of friends on my various social media sites that are pretty open about the good and the bad things in life. Is this just because I have un-friended all the annoyingly braggy folks? Maybe.
I'm not sure what my point is here, but I just wanted to throw those thoughts out there. And look, I may have a cute dalmatian-print* belt, but look how wrinkly my skirt is. Just keeping it real!
*No Dalmatians were harmed in the making of this belt. I actually don't know that, but I assume/hope. I really don't want to be Cruella De Vil!
Top: H&M
Skirt: J.Crew Factory
Belt: Limited
Shoes: BCBGeneration
