By Ellen Seidman
When
people feel down, browsing social media profiles of people they consider less
attractive, not-so successful, or less well-off can provide a pick-me-up.
That’s
per a new study on social media schadenfreude from Ohio State
University.
Researchers
asked 168 college students experiencing either good or bad moods to browse a
made-up social networking site and look at user profiles, with varying levels
of “hotness” and “career success.”
People
who weren’t feeling their best spent a lot more time on
lower-ranked profiles, perhaps in an effort to elevate their
egos.
Personally,
I find that browsing Facebook and Instagram gives me serious domestic
anxiety—the pumpkins and mums on our front porch seem downright pathetic
in comparison to other people’s Halloween decor extravaganzas.
Mostly,
I experience the schadenfreude effect from reading online news
stories.
Or,
rather, the “Today Is A Good Day Because I Wasn’t Attacked By Killer Bees”
effect.
That’s
how I felt last week when I read about a poor landscaper in Arizona who
died after
a 10-year-old hive with some 800,000 bees went wild.
And
I felt the same thing when yet another story about bees attacking a man,
this one in Texas, hit my news feed. (Killer bees: trending!)
That’s
the thing about our online existence: Every day, we’re exposed to countless
local stories and videos, along with international tidbits, about various freaky
things that befall other people. (I do not mean gloating over
avoiding major disasters or epidemics—this is about sidestepping random
incidents and situations).
Sad
to say, it regularly gives me perspective on how relatively good my life
is. Phew, don’t have to deal with mountain lions prowling our neighborhood!
Whoa, at least I wasn’t
on a plane stuck on a tarmac for a bazillion hours!
At
least my partner
doesn’t like to endlessly quote Lord of The Rings, like that woman’s boyfriend
in that viral video!
Who
needs shrinks when you have a daily dose of web therapy?
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