It's no secret that social media affects the way we view ourselves. 🪞📲 Stare too long at a Kardashian and all of a sudden <BOOM> your car's automatically driving you to the plastic surgeon! 🍑 OK, maybe that doesn't really happen. But staring too long at those “loud and proud” rich people does mess with our brains. 😵💫🧠
A new survey shows just how much social media impacts our expectations of financial stability and success. 🤑 Overnight millionaire real estate moguls and luxury lifestyle influencers can make us feel pretty craptastic about our own financial situations. Does it have to be this way? 😰
Here’s Five Fast Facts about social media and our finances:
- 🙍🏽♂️ Comparison is the Thief of Joy - According to the survey, 34% of adult social media users in the US said social media has made them feel negatively about their finances.
- 🤳🏼 Let Me Take a Selfie - The majority of social media users who took the survey (62%) said they believe people create posts just to make themselves look more successful and rich. Just ask these idiots who hired a (fake) private jet for follows and likes.
- 🥴 Buy Now, Regret Later - Those targeted ads get us every time. The survey revealed that social media causes impulsive spending, with 49% of respondents admitting to an impulse purchase based on something they saw online. Buyer's remorse sets in too, and 64% of impulse shoppers said they regretted their spree.
- 🛍️ Super Rich Kids - The younger generations feel the biggest impact! Out of the survey participants, 47% of Gen Z and 46% of Millennials said social media's definitely made them feel like doo-doo about their personal finances. This is causing more and more young people to splurge on items they can't afford…or give up dreams of college to be a full-time TikTok-er.
- 🤩 Overnight Celebrity - Another sad but true finding: 64% of parents of kids under 18 said social media gives them unrealistic money expectations. Kids now grow up out of touch with what it really takes to live a life of luxury, and have a bad habit of trying to fake it. Many say this is one of the many reasons why 54% of Millennials have credit card debt of up to $5,000, and 24% owe more than $5,000.
🔥Bottom line: Want to avoid these negative impacts? Spend some time cleaning up your social media feed. Unfollow anyone who makes you think badly about yourself. Life's too short to compare yourself to people who are probably faking it anyway! PS: if you *really* want to be rich, don't spend your money on these items.
How does social media impact your Paycheck?
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