In recent years, the influence of social media platforms (such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook) on our daily lives has grown significantly. According to the Global Digital Report 2024, the average person worldwide spends about 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media. While these platforms serve as tools for self-expression, social connection, and accessing information, they also increase the tendency to compare oneself to others’ “idealized lives.”
According to Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954), people evaluate themselves by comparing with others. This process, especially when it involves upward comparison (comparing with people who appear “better”), can lead to lower self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, and worthlessness. This article discusses how social media intensifies social comparison and whether it creates a sense of worthlessness, supported by scientific data.
Social Media and Selective Presentation
Social media users usually share their most successful, happiest, and most aesthetic moments (Chou & Edge, 2012). This creates a “display effect” on social media, where reality is distorted. A person living a normal life with ups and downs may feel their experiences are not enough, ordinary, or even a failure, when constantly exposed to content showing only the “highlights” of others.
Upward Social Comparison and Its Psychological Effects
Frequent upward comparisons have serious psychological effects, especially on young users. A study by Fardouly et al. (2015) found that as time spent on social media increased, individuals experienced more dissatisfaction with their physical appearance and lower self-esteem. Similarly, research by Vogel et al. (2014) showed that people who spend more time on social media tend to feel less self-worth.
Teenagers and young adults are especially vulnerable because they are still developing their sense of self. Psychologist Jean Twenge (2017), in her study on the effects of smartphones and social media, noted that the generation born after 2012 (iGen) has shown serious increases in depression, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts.
Neuropsychological Perspective: Dopamine and the Search for Approval
The “like” system on social media can activate the brain’s dopamine cycle, causing effects similar to behavioral addiction (Montag et al., 2017). This system makes people focus more on the reactions their posts receive compared to others. When the expected attention is not received, it can deepen feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.
Moreover, fMRI studies have shown that when people receive social approval, the brain’s reward centers (such as the nucleus accumbens) become active (Sherman et al., 2016). This physical reaction highlights how social approval affects a person’s sense of value.
Consequences of the Sense of Worthlessness
Constant comparison on social media does not only cause temporary sadness but can also lead to chronic self-worth issues, depressive symptoms, anxiety disorders, and even social phobia (Feinstein et al., 2013). Always feeling “behind” others prevents people from seeing their own progress and causes a loss of motivation.
Social media provides an environment where people can easily compare themselves to others both quantitatively (number of likes, followers) and qualitatively (lifestyle, success, physical appearance). These comparisons, especially upward ones, may lead individuals to feel their own lives are less valuable, less successful, and less “enough.” This process creates a sense of worthlessness, especially among young people, and negatively affects their self-esteem, mental health, and social relationships.
For future interventions, it will be important to teach people social media literacy, encourage digital detox practices, and develop psychoeducation programs that help individuals build self-worth independent of external validation. Additionally, recognizing the algorithmic structures of social media platforms that encourage constant comparison and taking regulatory steps on this issue can play a key role in reducing psychological harm on an individual level.
References:
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Chou, H. T. G., & Edge, N. (2012). “They are happier and having better lives than I am”: The impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(2), 117–121.
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Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P. C., Vartanian, L. R., & Halliwell, E. (2015). Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women’s body image concerns and mood. Body Image, 13, 38–45.
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Feinstein, B. A., et al. (2013). Negative social comparison on Facebook and depressive symptoms: Rumination as a mechanism. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(3), 161.
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Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140.
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Montag, C., & Walla, P. (2016). Carpe diem instead of losing your social mind: Beyond digital addiction and why we all suffer from digital overuse. Cogent Psychology, 3(1), 1157281.
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Sherman, L. E., et al. (2016). Peer influence via Instagram: Effects on brain and behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. Psychological Science, 27(7), 1027–1035.
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Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. Atria Books.
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Vogel, E. A., et al. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222.