Picture this: You’re at a holiday party catching up with friends as you scroll through Instagram.
You see that everyone on your feed is also out having fun, only they have pictures to prove it. So you gather your friends for a group shot.
At the end of the night, you go back to Instagram to post and marvel at other people’s punny captions and perfectly-filtered photos. You can’t quite put a finger on why, but you feel left out. Why should you, though? After all, you did have a fun night of your own.
Does this sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. A study covered by TIME in May explained that Instagram contributes to ‘social comparison’ and may actually be the worst social media platform for mental health.
According to a survey taken by 1,500 teens and young adults, the platform causes great anxiety related to FOMO, otherwise known as ‘fear of missing out’. This makes sense, considering that… Read the full story