I think you're missing the fact that social media exacerbated all of the issues you identified.
People feel less purpose because they are connected to all sorts things that undermine their sense of purpose through social media; They see the lives of people who outstanding lives, people who pretend to have outstanding lives, people who take pleasure in knocking other people down.
There are algorithms that prioritize and push divisive content. What is going to get more reach on social media the story of a man who is content in his job or the story of someone who is getting screwed by the corporation he works for? People gravitate toward what they see in others.
And while all this negativity is being pushed on people through social media, they are simultaneously replacing their IRL relationships with online caricatures of relationships. Replacing people who had an interest in helping you see purpose in your life with people who thrive on robbing you of your purpose because it generates more engagement.
I took the thesis of your article as being that the things that make us unhappy are in the real world, not on social media. And while I agree with that entirely, I think we now view and perceive our lives through a social media lens, and that absent social media our lives would be immensely more appreciated.
I think you're missing the fact that social media exacerbated all of the issues you identified.
People feel less purpose because they are connected to all sorts things that undermine their sense of purpose through social media; They see the lives of people who outstanding lives, people who pretend to have outstanding lives, people who take pleasure in knocking other people down.
There are algorithms that prioritize and push divisive content. What is going to get more reach on social media the story of a man who is content in his job or the story of someone who is getting screwed by the corporation he works for? People gravitate toward what they see in others.
And while all this negativity is being pushed on people through social media, they are simultaneously replacing their IRL relationships with online caricatures of relationships. Replacing people who had an interest in helping you see purpose in your life with people who thrive on robbing you of your purpose because it generates more engagement.
No, I didn’t miss that. Maybe I could have been more explicit in laying that out, though. My bad.
I took the thesis of your article as being that the things that make us unhappy are in the real world, not on social media. And while I agree with that entirely, I think we now view and perceive our lives through a social media lens, and that absent social media our lives would be immensely more appreciated.