The argument for ambitious: people are seeing what's possible outside their immediate environment. A girl in Abeokuta can watch a Nigerian girl in Amsterdam and think: I could do that. Instagram has democratized aspiration.
The argument for anxious: we are comparing our real, messy lives to other people's curated highlights. Every scroll is a reminder of what we don't have. Financial anxiety, relationship anxiety, body anxiety โ all amplified by an algorithm that feeds you content designed to provoke reaction, not peace.
My honest read: social media is an amplifier. It makes ambitious people more ambitious and anxious people more anxious. It does not change character โ it reveals and accelerates it.
Disagree with me. Tell me what you actually observe in yourself and the people around you.
The argument for anxious: we are comparing our real, messy lives to other people's curated highlights. Every scroll is a reminder of what we don't have. Financial anxiety, relationship anxiety, body anxiety โ all amplified by an algorithm that feeds you content designed to provoke reaction, not peace.
My honest read: social media is an amplifier. It makes ambitious people more ambitious and anxious people more anxious. It does not change character โ it reveals and accelerates it.
Disagree with me. Tell me what you actually observe in yourself and the people around you.
