Realistically, is the main purpose of social media to show off?

[dogmad170]

Just that really.

Recently quit social media as it was severely damaging my mental health as I was constantly comparing myself to others. On reflection I don't really see the point in it all.To me it just seems like its a tool for people to use to show off how rich/forward thinking/ perfect/successful/beautiful they are.

I use FB to stay in touch with a few family members. I think I last posted in 2018. But I do like the cat posts on SM.... So, so many cats 😁

I think it's primarily used for showing off and for virtual curtain twitching (aka spying on what's going on in the lives of people you vaguely met once or went to school with 11 years ago or work with but never talk to, etc.)

Staying in touch with friends and family I do via whatsapp.

I'll admit the groups thing seems useful, if you're into that kind of thing.

The main purpose of social media is to make money from users.

The users themselves have a range of different uses, but there are undoubtedly a lot of braggers and bullshitters on there!

I use it to find events and restaurant menus in our area.

Well done op! I’m hoping to do the same with Facebook. It’s not called “Fakebook” for nothing.

One of my of oldest friends has turned into the biggest bragger I’ve ever known. We’ve been friends for over 30 years and are both in our 40’s. She posts constant pics of new things, how wonderful her house is and husband and sadly her reality is very different.

Lockdown was an eye opener for me. She started posting constant attention seeking stuff and even her own dd pulled her up when she posted asking for a phone number of a certain posh home decor shop nearby, dd told her to google it

I’ve got people there who I met doing Camp America 20 years ago though and I suppose it’s those types of “friendships” that keep me on there.

But realistically I do think most folk are actually aware of the bollock posts? I took my dog to the groomers recently and she got quite a lot of 'likes, aww so cute comments!' on their SM page. The reality is her back end mostly smells like a month old dead badger, and she loves nothing more than ecstatically rolling in fox shit, or dead bird carcass (also once traumatically a used sanitary pad she found on a walk, and then tried to bring home) 🙄.

It absolutely is. I hate the concept. It's just so immodest. If you want to share your pics with family do it on a private account or WhatsApp or something. Anything else is very braggy

It’s mixed.
It’s toxic for many and especially women (I thank god i grew to adulthood before social media !).
But it’s also great for connecting people families friends hobbyists etc etc.
I have never used Facebook and only use Twitter to browse news/updates/trending etc.
Good move to quit op if it was literally doing your head in !

I do think that's true for a lot of people. It's basically image crafting. You get to decide on the picture you paint of yourself and your life with the aim to make other people jealous.

I remember a woman I know posted gushing pictures of her family at a local attraction #lovemyfamily #livingmybestlife #familytimeiseverything, it looked like a lovely day so next time I saw her I asked her about it thinking I'd take my own DC there. She said not to bother - it had been a really boring day, nothing much to do for the kids so they'd argued all day and the lovely looking meal she'd taken gorgeous photos of was actually bland and overcooked!

That said I'm still on facebook but now I use it a bit for nosiness and a bit for the bespoke groups I've joined. I've hidden lots of people who post annoying things and rarely post myself so I mainly see pictures of a particular type of animal I'm interested in, a style of achitecture I like, ideas for reducing household waste and art house film reviews.

I do also feel really uncomfortable when people brag about their kids. Not so much 'oh my goodness johnny took his first steps', which is genuine excitement but pictures of their school reports with certain phrases highlighted. My kids are academic so it's not like I'm jealous it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Unless you're posting something because you genuinely think it will make other people smile, I think it's best kept private or just sent to close family.

I find it useful for some groups I’m in ... bargain hunters , local notice boards . A lot of it is bragging and I hate the fact that some people take on a different persona . A relative of mine is a fitness person - endless bragging , Sharing quotes about fitness , eating healthy - however in real life I know her to be a judgemental body/fat shamer - yet she has all these people licking her arse . You can never tell what really goes on , two other people I follow on there seemed to have perfect life - fancy holidays , new house endless braggy posts ( although they are nice people ) and yet both marriages have broken down . So it’s not worth comparing . I used to post pictures years ago , so it’s nice to see on memories . Now it’s just bits of info, people missing posts etc that I share .

Oh yes, of course it is. I try to flood it with criticisms of the government, cute dog videos and sarcasm. I never get "likes" from people who use it properly. Well that's the impression I get - I don't give a shit enough to ever count my likes or register who presses the button.

It's not necessarily for showing off. Depends how you use it. I have a massive family over - 20 first cousins on each side - and we are quite close, some of us very much so. So it's great to have a private Facebook group where we share family news, talk about what our DC are doing, wish one another happy birthday, and arrange the next meet up (in normal times).

I am also a member of several hobby groups on-line.

And I post a personal photo about four times a year to most of my friends to mark specific events or occasions. I don't count that as showing off, it's just another means of communication, and I am genuinely interested in what they are doing and seeing their family pictures and hopefully vice versa.

It's the endless posting of memes and cartoons and photos of what people had for dinner, and re-posting of photos already seen, that I don't quite "get".

It varies doesn’t it.

I have instagram (set to private), I don’t post a great deal and I don’t do ‘big’ posts. Although last year I did a big gushy post about my partner and tagged him because I knew it would annoy him. I do sometimes post pictures that contain my son, but I don’t show his face and give minimal detail as he has a right to privacy.

I do have a friend who posts all the time and updates his ‘story’ most days. It can be a good way of advertising, I’m on Keegan Hirsts PTIQ plan and his entire business advertising is SM based.

The rugby club I play for use SM a lot, advertising our discover rugby sessions on instagram has been quite successful. Although I recently won shit trainer of the week and my punishment was the twerk for me challenge.

Some accounts are useful and form community, I follow a few adoption specific accounts such as the adventure squad, 2dads2lads to name a few and we now have face to face meets where we can and we have developed a group of around 25 adoptive families.

Some people do get too reliant on it though.

I think it's damaging to mental health. I think that's seen in young girls who are on these sites and get upset at not having enough upvotes etc. I have largely avoided them, but some people are able to make something more out of them and use them to keep in touch with people who live far away etc. Though I feel private whatsapp groups are better for that.

@MimiDaisy11

I think it's damaging to mental health. I think that's seen in young girls who are on these sites and get upset at not having enough upvotes etc. I have largely avoided them, but some people are able to make something more out of them and use them to keep in touch with people who live far away etc. Though I feel private whatsapp groups are better for that.

Undoubtedly social media is bad for mental health. The negative outweighs the positive, especially for teens. There will always be some who get a lot out of it, but overall social media is a negative I think.

Yes ! I think in order it’s
Show off
Connect with people
Argue

Facebook has been great for me for keeping in touch with families and friends all over the world, and also linking up again with people I was at school and university with. It's wonderful to see their children grow up.

A penpal from primary school got in touch 50 years after we've written and we'll probably meet once travel restrictions are lifted.

It was a huge comfort to me when a close family member was terminally ill (and I know the family member loved it for keeping in touch and knowing people cared).

I don't really see much "showing off" at all. I find it a real blessing - especially in these isolating times.

You do realise you choose who to follow or who to be 'friends' with, don't you ?

On instagram I would get suggestions of people to follow, ads on my feed & if I was searching for something it always showed influencers first. I don't have it anymore.

Facebook Marketplace is good for furniture. Better than eBay as it's always properly local.

Otherwise, I don't use it much. Well, Twitter is just insane people yelling. Instagram seems to be some kind of mental illness generator -- everyone I know who uses it a lot is very very anxious. Facebook, no idea, don't read my feed. BUT it is VERY useful for contacting people you know, but not that well. So things like my friend's lodger, if I needed to, or a second cousin to arrange some family thing.

I'm in WhatsApp and Telegram groups with everyone I know properly and get all the baby pictures I can fill my boots with that way. I suppose they are just as full of happy pictures and achievements as FB but it's all part of a more natural and intimate conversation and I genuinely want to know, so it is more interesting.

MN is social media but as it's anonymous and topic based, it's more interesting to me. It's definitely my favourite social media site. But even with MN, I go through phases of using it loads and then all of a sudden I get tired of it and log off for a few months/years.

I think it’s what you make of it tbh. You can use it to connect to your people, to help you grow and learn or you can post photoshopped half naked pictures of yourself to compensate for some sort of insecurity. Completely up to you how to use it. In all honesty it’s an amplification of your life in many ways. If you compare yourself to one of the half naked women/someone’s very tidy showroom ready corner of an average house You’ll probably do this in real life too.

No, my friends aren't show-offs, we are middle-aged ladies! I really like seeing/hearing about their lives, children, even their holidays, it's brought me back into contact with a few old friends and keeps others chugging along as I know what they have been up to. Not compulsory though, about half my friends are not on FB for starters.

Yep. And share opinions people would never verbalize quite so strongly in real life.

After watching the Netflix document about fb and other social media I’ve removed fb from my phone and restricted the time I spend in other apps : instagram and mumsnet for example.
Most of the time it’s crap content what we use it for and we spend too much time on it so I’ve decided to use it less. Also they use many of these apps to control us hence not willing to follow that route myself. I think it’s called the social experiment

Yes I believe a lot of people use it to show how amazing their life is and to get instant gratification.