I read something very briefly in my inbox this afternoon about whether Social Media was driving a rise in envy. The case was persuasive.
The author, Rob Henderson, discussed how when he was a child, a popular tv show was MTV Crips. The premise was simple; people like Jay Z and Ludacris would bring TV crews in to film their often outrageous homes.
Mr Henderson, who grew up in poverty and passed between foster homes, never felt jealous or envious of how these rappers lived. After all, Monsieur Ludacris was not only a global star, he also lived in the “big city” and was, of course, an adult. They do things differently.
What really got Rob’s blood pressure climbing was seeing the kid next to him in class with a pair of new sneakers. They may have even been the same brand and type as the one’s Rod wore, only these were white and crisp, or at least whiter and crispier.
This whole story tried to capture an idea that I think is quite illuminating, envy is a local issue. Kids get peeved that they didn’t make it into their accelerated maths class in Year 9 while their friend did; they’re not at all concerned who won the Field’s Medal or got accepted into MIT. Teenagers aren’t heartbroken because Ana de Armas isn’t in their DMs, it’s because Sofia is going to the dance with Timmy instead. The examples are endless.
The issue with Social Media is that suddenly the world between Ludacris and Timmy is a lot smaller. There are kids – same age, same crummy haircut, same lame dance moves – who is famous across town for, well, something. They’re not just more famous than you, they’re 9123% more famous than you, based on views and likes. Their potential for envy has now risen swiftly!
I thought this was a pretty novel take, and seems to be true. I’ll give it more thought, but would love to hear what you think!
Leave a Reply