29 May

The thing that is most popular on social media, sharing information about yourself and what you’re doing, is also the thing that is most damaging to you and others. Some of it is obvious humblebragging, like people who only ever post when on holiday in some exotic location, or when the kids win an award at school. But even the most well-meaning ‘just keeping up to date’ posting causes damage. Humans are social animals, and social animals function by comparison, which is the battle for status. When we allowed these platforms to become the actual location where we now transact most of our societies, we gave that comparison mechanism - our deepest desire, it’s absolutely addictive to humans - an enormous steroid boost. It’s not only damaging our individual mental health, it’s destroying our collective society. Trump remember is the social media President, it’s how he got there and how he stays there. People will swear just looking at what everybody else is doing every day is the most harmless, happy and healthy thing. It’s insidious and continuous, the exponential increase in social comparision, infecting every tiny detail of our lives. And I’m old enough to remember a time in history to compare it with, before social media. The most excruciating bores were people who shared details of themselves and their family’s lives all the time, in humblebrag Christmas letters, or slide nights (groan), or even just in conversation. Talking endlessly about yourself was always considered a social no-no. But social media has normalised that now as baseline everyday behaviour. We’re not seeing it, nor the terminal damage it’s doing to ourselves and our societies.