What FACEBOOK taught me

I enjoy spending time (stalking),catching up with old friends and doing whatever on facebook but I am beginning to wonder if it is good for my mental health. After taking sometime off, I decided to spend sometime on facebook to see what people were up to, after about 5mins I found myself being filled with jealousy, envy and what not. I felt my life was crap and everyone was having a great time but me. The irony about that is I am having a great time, I am so blessed and I'm generally not a jealous or envious person but facebook somehow brings out the worst in me.

Maybe is it because people only post the cool airbrushed part of their lives, maybe because they use their status updates to brag/boast and portray a very unrealistic life. It is easier to deal with celebrities in reality shows doing similar things because we separate it from reality but when it comes into our reality through our face book friends it is more real and you think less of your life and wonder if there is something wrong with you because you cannot afford the crazy holidays your facebook friends can.

I have a friend on facebook that seemed to be living it up, she had an amazing boyfriend with great posts and pictures about how everything was going, the engagement, a massive celebrity style wedding

plus honeymoon and details of her spending her days in the gym and spa. I was jealous of her and it didn't help when she started posting updates and pictures about her holidays around the world about 5-9 holidays in a year, checking in to 4/5 star hotels and going on crazy shopping trips.

At this point I turned green with envy and decided to investigate (aka facebook stalk) because I wanted to know if it was true, how she had the time/money, what her husband did for a living etc. After stalking for 5mins I realised that she was divorced after about a year and these trips were possibly her way of running a way from reality and they were paid for by her parents.

I spent months wishing I had her life because of what I saw on facebook not knowing it was all airbrushed and most of what I thought was not true. Hey people do not allow facebook to make you feel your life is sad, some of the happy couples with romantic pictures that make you feel being single is a curse are 80% of the time staged and  probably fought after taking that picture because she forced him take the picture.

Appreciate all that you have in your life because you are truly blessed and do not believe everything you see in social media networks.


Quick tip: If you find a friend's posts have gone from updates to bragging right click on the post and opt out.