Venting Social Media is depressing and toxic as fu##!

[Darkhaven]

Social Media in general can be so toxic for people with depression and social integration problems.
I find Instagram to be the worst though.
I mainly use it has a last chain between me and the "normal world".
But seeing all these beautiful people sharing their travells around the globe, their almost perfect beach bodies, their dinner tabbles filled with delicious food and their joyfull smiles only makes my depression worse.
Knowing that i won't ever feel 1/10 of the happiness these people feel thorought their lives just makes me become aware of how unfair and cruel this life is.
I wish i was never born.

 

[Kolanthel]

They're all fake tho. Those seemingly happy people probably have crippling problems we're not aware of - they choose to disclose just the glamor. I agree it's toxic af. Much prefer platforms such as SS where people are genuine with their vulnerabilities and issues than pretending to have perfect lives to get envied by others.

 

[vulturecyclop]

Agreed. Instagram makes me EXTREMELY insecure as a woman, it has ruined the little self esteem I had (which was never much to begin with). I also wish I was never born. I absolutely hate my body, but most of all my face. I also hate porn and anything that shows female sexuality. Holy shite I think I might be a misogynist.

 

[mynameispaige]

I deleted all of my social media accounts. I was just comparing myself to everyone else and it made my depression so much worse. I don't regret it one bit.

 

[letmeseethedeath]

Social Media in general can be so toxic for people with depression and social integration problems.
I find Instagram to be the worst though.
I mainly use it has a last chain between me and the "normal world".
But seeing all these beautiful people sharing their travells around the globe, their almost perfect beach bodies, their dinner tabbles filled with delicious food and their joyfull smiles only makes my depression worse.
Knowing that i won't ever feel 1/10 of the happiness these people feel thorought their lives just makes me become aware of how unfair and cruel this life is.
I wish i was never born.

i feel the same way. perfect face. perfect hands, perfect body. perfect happiness. perfect height

 

[Darkhaven]

Agreed. Instagram makes me EXTREMELY insecure as a woman, it has ruined the little self esteem I had (which was never much to begin with). I also wish I was never born. I absolutely hate my body, but most of all my face. I also hate porn and anything that shows female sexuality. Holy shite I think I might be a misogynist.

Same with me.
I'm a guy, and i used to be very addicted to gym's and weightlifting. Now i have a neurological disorder and i lost a lot of strength and to top it off my arms shake a lot when i flex them.
Now i have no self esteem anymore and seeing them other healthy guys on their prime, looking good is one of the worst feelings i ever felt.
It's so revolting and maddening.

I deleted all of my social media accounts. I was just comparing myself to everyone else and it made my depression so much worse. I don't regret it one bit.

I probably should do the same.
For me it's mainly IG, as that's where people expose more of themselves.

 

[vulturecyclop]

Same with me.
I'm a guy, and i used to be very addicted to gym's and weightlifting. Now i have a neurological disorder and i lost a lot of strength and to top it off my arms shake a lot when i flex them.
Now i have no self esteem anymore and seeing them other healthy guys on their prime, looking good is one of the worst feelings i ever felt.
It's so revolting and maddening.

I probably should do the same.
For me it's mainly IG, as that's where people expose more of themselves.

Ikr. I've deleted mine twice but I just crawl back to it..I'm a masochist. Im so sorry that happened to you...But hey, you're a guy so don't let your physical attributes define you, it matters way less for your gender. Just aim to be healthy. Eat and sleep well, etc. I wish the best for you.

 

[alexithymia]

Social media makes me feel like shit. A couple weeks ago I checked in on some old friends from years ago and they all look so happy... At the very least normal. They have really active social lives and travel a ton. It makes me so envious. I wish so badly I could've been normal.

 

[letmeseethedeath]

Social media makes me feel like shit. A couple weeks ago I checked in on some old friends from years ago and they all look so happy... At the very least normal. They have really active social lives and travel a ton. It makes me so envious. I wish so badly I could've been normal.

i totally relate. i did the same. they are so happy so healthy. happy with the love of their life. so proportioned with their body, so perfect. and i'm there crying because life wants to makes me feel more shit

 

[SadSack]

The only social media site that absolutely bothers me is Facebook.

I originally joined after being pressured into it. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that it revealed the worst of humanity as they freely and openly revealed everything about themselves, including the most horrible parts.

I've seen statuses saying some of the most horrendous things that I'd never expect from the posters.

I don't like how it enables us to so easily broadcast to the world some of our nastiest opinions. Some things I could have lived without knowing, especially things that made me grow to dislike people I thought the world of.

I generally don't use social media anymore. I lurk photo streams on Instagram that I follow hashtags for and I watch videos. But, that's honestly it.

I've completely withdrawn myself from human interaction, aside from this forum I suppose.

 

[puppy9]

The fact that politicians use that to manipulate people. I don't see anything good coming from social media.

 

[OnlyMercy]

Social media is a farce, especially among young women. No one will voluntarily post their defeats, only their victories and states in happiness.

 

[Life sucks]

I hate social media but I use it for stuff related to hobbies or businesses and not personal. I honestly don't understand why people are obsessed with taking photos of themselves, I almost never take any and I think my look has no relation at all with my inside, what a superficial life

 

[thatguyakira123]

I use to be on instagram until June of this year. The frontman of one of the local metal band was using me to play a joke on his friends. He knew I was gay and would lie to me telling me one of his band member was also gay and interrested. When I brought it up to said memeber after weeks of fantasizing I got to find out the truth and when I brought it up to him and told him to knock it off, he tried pushing me on another friend who was straight and married. After I blocked him, made my instagram private and uninstalled it.

 

[ArtsyDrawer]

Despite its toxicity, I think social media does have a use - proving that you're not dead or giving alibi.
Jokes aside, Facebook activity is starting to be used as legit proof in court.
Selfies and such. Metadata is being extracted from them, or whatever.

 

[Futility]

If it's worth anything to you, most people lie about their happiness on social media.
One girl I knew, she lost her disability because the government went snooping on her posts and concluded that she was far too happy to possibly suffer from the things she was on disability for.
They didn't bother looking at the fact she was only posting about her good days or moments, because nobody wants to volunteer the dreadful life they have as the consequence of that is friends running away as they're either overwhelmed or think you're just an attention seeker.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I tested it myself, I posted a great day and everyone were all over me.
Then I posted about a bad day and not a single reaction, not even a private message although I've been told multiple times by my friends (these same people who will post suicide hotlines to show what great supportive people they are) that they'll always be there for me, I guess they had a fine print excluding anything that takes a bit of effort on their part.
Hypocrites.

 

[Rachel74]

I use Facebook and mainly for work. I go on lots of pages with fluffy kittens and puppies that make me happy

 

[sadgirl2002]

As the years passed, I stopped using social media and I eventually deactivated every social media account I had; one by one. I remember how I stopped going on Instagram when I was in college because I realised it was making me feel more insecure than I already was; seeing all those women on the explore page who were prettier than me and women who had the "ideal" body that everyone pretty much wants nowadays. After I stopped using it and I stopped looking at those photos, I noticed I felt a lot more grateful for the way I looked. I even remember telling my best friend that I was happy with how I looked because I knew I had a body that women had in the 80s. Now, I pretty much only use my Tumblr and my private Instagram and Twitter account where I don't allow anyone to follow me and I only look at poetry and vintage accounts. Of course, things happened and now, I hate myself forever.

 

[Lefty]

Social media is toxic. I hardly ever get on FB anymore. It really does mess with your mental health. I've noticed the less I deal with social media, the better I feel.

 

[Troubled]

With social media, you just have to realize everyone pics and chooses what they post. The best of their best gets posted there. Most people are vain and want to show off how much fun they are having and post no bad things.

 

[Final Escape]

I was on twitter recently, and I started to get so depressed I could barely do what I needed to do lol! I'm primarily interested in politics so some of the stuff people tweet induces fear, hopelessness, shame, regret, envy, anger. I mean I enjoyed the entertainment aspect of it but it's too much of a time suck, and especially if u don't have the time. If you are promoting your business or something I think Twitter would be useful for that but it's probably not healthy to be on it too much.

 

[Enabran255]

During the only time I had a successful social life, I joined facebook, since my friends were all telling me I should etc. Back then (2006-2007), you had to have a college email to get on there. It was fine, even enjoyable when my social life was going well. Even my romantic life at the time looked like I had a real good chance of seeing success for the first time in ten years (my previous "success" being an online "relationship" where I was cheated on and dumped). Once those parts of my life began getting destroyed by a particularly vicious bully, it quickly turned toxic.

She would use FB as a weapon in her bullying of me, for example one time she saw I was getting along really well with a girl in my CS classes, so she quickly started being besties with her and made sure to post lots of pictures of them together out having fun. At the same time, this girl suddenly thought I was "creepy" and didn't want to be around me anymore.

As time went on and my life continued to get dismantled by her, FB turned into suicide fuel. This girl who destroyed every part of my life was being rewarded by getting the wonderful disney romance she always dreamed of (and of course documenting every inane detail of it on there), a supportive social circle (which mostly consisted of all my former friends), etc etc, while I was now a friendless pariah. The other people I knew were all getting married or entering into romances, landing great careers, going on exotic vacations, etc, while I was rotting in my apartment alone every night.

In the end I deactivated my account and never went back on. At the time, I told myself I would only go back on once my social and romantic life had recovered to the point they were before getting destroyed. That was now almost a decade ago, and neither have come close to where they were in all that time since. At this point, it doesn't look like I will ever be active on social media again in my lifetime.

 

[Empty Smile]

I never had Twitter, Reddit, Snapchat, and whatever other shit is out there. I did have Facebook, deleted account in 2014 and never went back.

I miss it as much as I miss my ex-wife...

 

[Throwawaysoul]

NONE of that shit is interesting. I don't care what people do or have to say. Nor should they about what I do and say. Social media makes people think they are mini celebrities in their fucked up heads. Every last thing people do nowadays is for social media.

 

[stellabelle]

They say that social media is bad for mental health because it gives people unrealistic expectations about life and they often compare some folks' highlights to their own which are few and far between. Social media often only presents the positive aspect of things. People can put on such a performance because nobody knows anything about what's behind the picture.

For example, someone might share photos of luxury items but they're actually living check to check in debt.
Things are not always as they seem.
Anyone can make their life appear to be fantastic with a good angle and a few filters. Same goes for their food.

This is kind of awkward but I did know someone who often posted photos trying to appear very glamorous or showing off expensive items but really they struggled with money and the house was very dirty and smelled bad due to too many pets. You have no idea what's going on behind a picture.

Also remember that not every angle is flattering and sometimes people take multiple pictures to appear more attractive or have a better body. Some edit their photos. You just don't know what is or what isn't anymore. There is diversity but it might not be someone you know from IRL. I've come across models or even just regular people who embrace body positivity and post whatever without edits.

All that aside, when my depression was much worse, Instagram was absolutely awful and made me feel like complete and utter shit. Like everyone had a better life (and they did.) and feeling like I was missing out on everything that I could enjoy if life hadn't gone to complete shit. It was so fucking devastating. I couldn't even get dressed each day.

 

[Sweet emotion]

Social Media in general can be so toxic for people with depression and social integration problems.
I find Instagram to be the worst though.
I mainly use it has a last chain between me and the "normal world".
But seeing all these beautiful people sharing their travells around the globe, their almost perfect beach bodies, their dinner tabbles filled with delicious food and their joyfull smiles only makes my depression worse.
Knowing that i won't ever feel 1/10 of the happiness these people feel thorought their lives just makes me become aware of how unfair and cruel this life is.
I wish i was never born.

I'm with you. Instagram makes me very depressed. All rich people showing their perfect lives. God it makes me sick.

 

[Enabran255]

I'm with you. Instagram makes me very depressed. All rich people showing their perfect lives. God it makes me sick.

I never check IG, but from the times I've seen it mentioned it seemed obvious to me that it was a lot of trust fund kids showing off their privileged lifestyles. I don't understand why so many people find it appealing? It's just like those vloggers on youtube who travel the world all the time and never have to work like the proletariat. What's the appeal to watching? I guess maybe it's vicarious living along with people convincing themselves that someday their life will be as comfortable and fun too if they just Work Hard™.

 

[LastFlowers]

Social media is a farce, especially among young women. No one will voluntarily post their defeats, only their victories and states in happiness.

Still, some people don't even have that much. Personally, I could not even put up a farce if I wanted to as I am quite unattractive.
Unfortunately, I find that a lot of the people who post on Instagram and otherwise really aren't that much different in real life. Everyone has their troubles, sure, but most of us here don't even have the balance of enough good things to keep the bad in check. There's nothing to post. Not enough good bits to string together.

I've come to the conclusion that the phenomenon of "instagram vs reality"-while sometimes accurate-is more of a mechanism of wishful thinking for the have-nots to cope.
Walking out of my house is enough to see all that I am without and all that I can never have, social media just brings it inside the home for us to access at any given moment, to haunt us and give us no rest from other's happiness and life itself.

 

[Sweet emotion]

I never check IG, but from the times I've seen it mentioned it seemed obvious to me that it was a lot of trust fund kids showing off their privileged lifestyles. I don't understand why so many people find it appealing? It's just like those vloggers on youtube who travel the world all the time and never have to work like the proletariat. What's the appeal to watching? I guess maybe it's vicarious living along with people convincing themselves that someday their life will be as comfortable and fun too if they just Work Hard™.

You're exactly right

 

[LastFlowers]

During the only time I had a successful social life, I joined facebook, since my friends were all telling me I should etc. Back then (2006-2007), you had to have a college email to get on there. It was fine, even enjoyable when my social life was going well. Even my romantic life at the time looked like I had a real good chance of seeing success for the first time in ten years (my previous "success" being an online "relationship" where I was cheated on and dumped). Once those parts of my life began getting destroyed by a particularly vicious bully, it quickly turned toxic.

She would use FB as a weapon in her bullying of me, for example one time she saw I was getting along really well with a girl in my CS classes, so she quickly started being besties with her and made sure to post lots of pictures of them together out having fun. At the same time, this girl suddenly thought I was "creepy" and didn't want to be around me anymore.

As time went on and my life continued to get dismantled by her, FB turned into suicide fuel. This girl who destroyed every part of my life was being rewarded by getting the wonderful disney romance she always dreamed of (and of course documenting every inane detail of it on there), a supportive social circle (which mostly consisted of all my former friends), etc etc, while I was now a friendless pariah. The other people I knew were all getting married or entering into romances, landing great careers, going on exotic vacations, etc, while I was rotting in my apartment alone every night.

In the end I deactivated my account and never went back on. At the time, I told myself I would only go back on once my social and romantic life had recovered to the point they were before getting destroyed. That was now almost a decade ago, and neither have come close to where they were in all that time since. At this point, it doesn't look like I will ever be active on social media again in my lifetime.

Ahh yes, just further proof that the idea of karma does not exist, people who contributed to my hellish experiences are also now thriving, I try not to look but once in awhile.. I do. It's a cruel joke, isn't it? So unbelievably unfair.