Social media - Does it create envy?

Description of envy- discontented longing aroused by someone else's possessions, quality or luck.

Having written about how social media can affect our lives, I came across an article the other day about how looking at a friends' profile on Facebook and seeing what a beautiful house this person had, made this particular person feel incredibly envious.

Then how must it feel for those who are unemployed, those have lower incomes and just having to cope living from day to day?

Social media has a lot to offer in various ways, communication, access to facilities, keeping in touch with loved ones, but there are times when people begin to realise that others have so much more than they have.

There begins a vicious circle. Individuals try to create a picture of what their homes and their lives are like, through social media, this then can create discontentment in other peoples lives.

Social media is being bombarded by so many free social networking sites such as Tumblr, Flickr and Instagram. These can be used to build a profile of ourselves to show others how we live, successfully.

There is a side for some, to show how well they are doing for themselves, while doing that this can create insecurities in others.

This of course is done unintentionally, by the people who wish to share their good fortune with their friends on social media and sometimes this is the quickest way to to it.

But then there is the other side where people like to read about possible misfortunes their friends have had. This then can create a forum of ridicule, there are those who "friend" people because they are lonely, this I feel may not be helpful to them. An article on LinkedIn tells of how people have had problems with cyber-bullying through Facebook, with very unfortunate circumstances.

Facebook was created as a forum where people could share their ideas and keep in contact with people all over the world.

Don't get me wrong I use Facebook myself to keep in contact with people, it is a great way to keep in touch. Long gone are the days of writing a letter, when you can talk to someone straight away.

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