"A long time ago, Facebook used to be a fun place where friends kept in touch and shared photos from their lives. Instagram was a way to share photos with friends. Twitter would allow you to keep up with news and opinions from people you respected. Now, social media is often a cesspool of anger and hate interspersed with people trying to sell me things."
"The more stressed we are, the more we reach for short-term solutions and the circle of people we care about becomes smaller. This is a very good survival tool. If you're in the middle of an earthquake, you are physically unable to plan for your summer holidays or worry about refugees on the other side of the world. Your focus is only on where your loved ones are right now and where you all should be for the next few minutes."
Social media platforms originally enabled friends to stay connected and share photos, but now frequently contain anger, hate, and commercial content. Platform owners profit from user engagement driven by negative emotions. Increased stress causes people to focus on immediate survival and narrow social circles, which favors short-term coping and unhealthy habits like drinking, smoking, poor diet, and reduced exercise. Stress also reduces willingness to help others and increases susceptibility to fear-based politics. If platforms keep users stressed and angry, users become more likely to spend on comfort purchases and consume advertised products, reinforcing a cycle of distress and consumption.
Read at Psychology Today
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