Edition #10: Compare Up for Inspiration, Down for Appreciation
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Last week, I talked about having skin in the game.
Today I’ll chat about financial self comparison, a heart-warming Youtube video, the Gini index, and end with this week’s tip on crypto savings accounts.
My friends once told me about a guy named Dan Bilzerian.
Do a quick search and you’ll see a buff bearded bro with babes, boats, and enough bud and bullets to start a cannabis army. Oh wait.
His social media profile is the wet dream of every red-blooded American male.
I had to unfollow him.
I knew that if I kept looking at his feed, I would grow despondent, unable to shake the contrast between his excessive wealth and abs to my plebeian existence.
*Shakes fist at sky* Damn you Dan Bilzerian!
Self comparison is a hell of a drug, and social media is the needle that administers it.
Social media makes us feel poorer
It’s been well documented that social media use can impact wellbeing via hyper self comparison. Psychologist Mai-Lyn Nguyen calls this “seeing everyone else’s highlight reels.”
Before the age of social media, we enjoyed a psychological distance from self comparison. There were celebrities on TV, and there were our friends, family and coworkers in meatspace.
Social media narrowed that gap with heavily edited close-ups of those in our circles. It’s not only keeping up with the Kardashians, but also keeping up with your rich friends flying around the world to exotic locations.
Studies show that we are more likely to compare ourselves to those with a similar background than to celebrities. If you feel poorer because of social media, then you’re not alone.
Remember the famous finding that people don’t get much happier after $75,000/year? Maybe the reason is that…
