Could it be because time spent online is filled with upward/downward comparison ("I'm worse/better than people higher/lower on the social ladder", respectively), sensationalized apocalyptic news and people engaging in dishonest and malicious behavior a la 4chan? Or, maybe, because of the fact that you're looking for a relief of a social kind, and when people don't message you when you most want them to, you feel even worse because now you feel about about yourself and seemingly have confirmation about the feeling? Add to that that people never post online about being sad — so you don't see that others feel the same, sometimes, and don't develop this reverse empathy — and you a cocktail of things that are going to kill you from the inside unless you quit soon enough. I've had enough ramblings lately, and I have enough sanity left today to not jump into another one. Here's the thing I've noticed, though: in my experience, people seldom engage with each other meaningfully and positively over the Internet — and I would love to be proven wrong. It's because of this engagement that Hubski and certain subreddits stand out; I don't know if there are many other such places.
This is where my money goes. Unlimited access to information is a good thing when one is able to self-filter what they should and shouldn't be adding to their worldview. If we took a trip over to WorldStarHipHop or LiveLeak and spent hours, days, weeks consuming nothing but that kind of content, one would have a pretty bleak outlook on reality. In my case, your first example of 'upward/downward comparison' is something that has been driving me nuts since I was old enough to get online without adult supervision (7-8 maybe). Disengaging from social media has been important to keeping some grasp of my sanity as a young adult, because it's right in that sweet spot of late-teens, early twenties where socio-economic disparity becomes most apparent. I always knew my high school was a wealthy one, but only as a young adult do I realize HOW wealthy. Example, one family bought their daughter a house in the city where she went to college, because they figured out it was cheaper in the long run to buy a house, fix it up, have her pay like $200 a month 'rent' and sell it when she was done with school, rather than pay for dorms/apartments. Tuition aside, they MADE money from her college living expenses.Could it be because time spent online is filled with upward/downward comparison ("I'm worse/better than people higher/lower on the social ladder", respectively), sensationalized apocalyptic news and people engaging in dishonest and malicious behavior a la 4chan?
Damn. Rich people can invest.one family bought their daughter a house in the city where she went to college, because they figured out it was cheaper in the long run to buy a house, fix it up, have her pay like $200 a month 'rent' and sell it when she was done with school, rather than pay for dorms/apartments. Tuition aside, they MADE money from her college living expenses.