It’s a highly constructed version of our own reality. It follows a narrative of contentment and bliss. People might post something mundane, but it becomes a euphoric moment about cooking a hot dog on their new grill. I just deactivated my personal account two weeks ago. Everyone on Facebook appeared to be doing better than me. I thought, “I don’t need this. I don’t need to see how many pages someone has cracked out in one day or how many awards they won that week.”Mr. Bakopoulos is speaking of envy, one of the ancient sins to which nearly everyone is susceptible. Envy is one of childhood's most basic emotions: who among us has not envied a playmate's toy or clothes or even her family, finding ours wanting?
Whether or not we are afflicted ourselves, we can lessen the envy---and unhappiness all around---by toning down the bragging (safe harbor should be granted, however, for pictures of babies). Boastful behavior, after all, stems from another of the ancient sins.
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