When a person scrolls through social media, they often see photos of foreign trips, joyful moments of buying a new home or expensive cars, as well as images of luxurious weddings and happy daily life. These snapshots can lead a person to ask: why isn't my life like this? If you are experiencing such a feeling, the reason lies not only in envy or low self-esteem but also in a specific mechanism of our brain's operation, which is called social comparison in psychology.
Psychologist Sangita Bansal notes that it is crucial to understand that people on social media only display snippets of their lives. Usually, only the moments that look good, beautiful, or joyful are published. For example, a person might share a picture of their new house, but this does not mean they are showing off credit problems, stress, or daily difficulties. Similarly, a beautiful vacation photo does not give a complete picture of how the rest of that person's life is going. Thus, we tend to compare our whole life with the carefully selected best moments of another.
The human brain uses comparison with others for self-knowledge. We try to understand our position, keep track of what others are doing, and determine what we should strive for. Although such comparison can sometimes be a stimulus for progress, constantly comparing ourselves to people whose lives seem better in every aspect can generate a feeling of dissatisfaction. For instance, if you see people traveling, shopping, or buying expensive things on social media every day, your ordinary life may start to seem dull over time.
Sangita Bansal asserts that constantly observing the achievements of others makes us focus on what we lack. If someone has a big house, ours may seem small; seeing a good job, ours may seem less significant; and by observing someone else's physical fitness, we may feel dissatisfied with our own body. The problem is not always that our life has suddenly worsened; often, it happens because repeatedly viewing someone else's life changes our perception of our own.
Previously, we compared ourselves only with a narrow circle of acquaintances. Now, thanks to social media, we see hundreds and thousands of pictures and videos of different people every day. Someone has a good job, someone lives abroad, someone runs a business, someone travels constantly, and someone shares success stories. Constant exposure to such content can create the illusion that everyone else is moving forward while we are falling behind. However, it is important to remember here: social media does not show the full picture of a person's life.
Comparing oneself to others is not always a negative phenomenon. If another person's success inspires you and motivates you to set a goal, this comparison can be constructive. The problem arises when, after comparing, you constantly feel that you are worse than others or that your life is meaningless. Therefore, the next time you see a brilliant life on social media, before considering your own life inadequate, remember that you have only seen a small part of someone else's life.