Millennials

[Deleted member 1609]

Why do millennials always exaggerate their accomplishments and the state of their lives on social media?

For example, I am a twenty-something. I currently live in my mom's basement with my girlfriend, and we have a baby on the way. I drive my 2004 Buick Rendezvous (on which I'm still making payments) with no brakes, bald tires, and a broken windshield wiper to another town every day to teach second graders how to read for an extremely modest paycheck. I have a four year degree and earn less than some fast food workers. I have over fifty thousand dollars in student loan debt and nearly ten thousand dollars in credit card debt. Every day, I browse Facebook and read stories about how the people with whom I went to high school and college earn more than I earn annually in a month (working half my hours), own multi-million dollar homes, never have an unhappy moment, and just have absolutely perfect lives. Despite all of that, I'm not unhappy because I have a job that contributes something to society and have a wonderful family. Aside from that, I know that my "friends" on social media are greatly exaggerating their life accomplishments.

I can't help but wonder why millennials feel the need to exaggerate their life accomplishments to such a great extent. The people who exaggerate their life accomplishments in such a manner know deep down that they are not nearly as successful as they are pretending to be. If everyone were as honest as I was above, wouldn't it be beneficial for everyone? Wouldn't everyone feel better about himself or herself?

 

[Rickeo]

I think you're going to get this with just about every generation.

The 'millennials' will say similar things about the next generation.

It's mostly not their fault, I'm 27 and when I was a kid nobody really had PCs or internet yet. I mean it existed but hadn't taken off and at that point it was slow dial-up and not many people had it apart from schools and libraries.

Mobile phones were bigger and there were no 'smart phones' this lack of technology meant simpler and easier times, it was nice I admit but I can't blame 'millennials' for not possessing the same skills, qualities or patience I have, they've been raised in a society that has significantly changed.

Economics plays a huge part in it as well, living standards have gone up.

What we consider 'hard', (I've literally been homeless living on the streets before now) may be totally different to what millennials consider hard. For them having no internet may be 'hard' because they've not lived without it their whole life.

It's one of them, I understand where you're coming from BUT it's not all down to them, it's society as a whole and changing times, that's the issue.

 

[Cosmic]

This is definitely a thing. 😛

First things first, everyone brags. They want to make themselves look more successful, more cool, than they really are. At an evolutionary level, this is to make them look like a better mate, which is behavior that can be observed in other species. The result? Bragging and virtue signaling.

Second thing, which do people do it on facebook? well, people do it everywhere, but I like Facebook has developed as a particularly popular platform for these kinds of posts, since it’s a way to broadcast “things happening in your life” to people you barely know. This is one of the optimal environments for parading ones own virtues.

Third thing, why melinials? I argue that it’s an age thing. They’re still at the age where their bodies want them to find as many mates as possible. Also, they’re still relatively young so they have more to prove. And finally, they are less guarded and more willing to share their deepest personal details on Facebook, because they are more accustomed to technology. The previous generation is not, and the next generation is, so I argue that there will be more inter-generational tension about this between Melinials and previous generations than Melinials and subsequent.

TL;DR all of the melinials want to get laid

 

[Gus]

Why do millennials always exaggerate their accomplishments and the state of their lives on social media?

I haven’t really seen that myself. The millennials in my social media feeds are pretty down to earth and I don’t really see them exaggerating.

 

[Rick Ace]

I agree with @Princess MeowsePad and @Cosmé

We definitely have some sort of culture with "elegance" and "modernism." Just look at a few Apple ads. But I don't know if it's a mating ritual. There are many people that brag about themselves who are less than social characters. I doubt they're attracting mates anytime soon. 😛

 

[Cosmic]

There are many people that brag about themselves who are less than social characters. I doubt they're attracting mates anytime soon

We can all hope D:

 

[Jason76]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

Everyone lives at home, or at least I hope so. I don't wish being homeless on anyone! 😉

 

[Jason76]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

Everyone lives at home, or at least I hope so. I don't wish being homeless on anyone! 😉

It's more along the lines of this macho, "I can make it on my own thing.". However, while there is a lot of truth to it, coming from many people, is "holier-than-thou" and of a bullying nature.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

Everyone lives at home, or at least I hope so. I don't wish being homeless on anyone! 😉

It's more along the lines of this macho, "I can make it on my own thing.". However, while there is a lot of truth to it, coming from many people, is "holier-than-thou" and of a bullying nature.

Some people are overly prideful. Personally, I'd rather have a comfortable life than a foolish sense of pride.

 

[Jason76]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

Everyone lives at home, or at least I hope so. I don't wish being homeless on anyone! 😉

It's more along the lines of this macho, "I can make it on my own thing.". However, while there is a lot of truth to it, coming from many people, is "holier-than-thou" and of a bullying nature.

Some people are overly prideful. Personally, I'd rather have a comfortable life than a foolish sense of pride.

What do you mean?

 

[Corzhens]

I don't think the issue of exaggeration is confined to the millenials. It just so happened that your general coincided with social media and the trend there is bragging or hypocrisy. Pardon my opinion, that's how I see it in Facebook. I know for a fact that some people are regularly posting lies just to give an impression that is positive. Maybe it's their idiosyncrasy but I think it is more of the trend now.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

Everyone lives at home, or at least I hope so. I don't wish being homeless on anyone! 😉

It's more along the lines of this macho, "I can make it on my own thing.". However, while there is a lot of truth to it, coming from many people, is "holier-than-thou" and of a bullying nature.

Some people are overly prideful. Personally, I'd rather have a comfortable life than a foolish sense of pride.

What do you mean?

Some people would rather be able to say they're better than others than have a comfortable life. I guess I'm not one of those people. XD

 

[Cosmic]

Do you think it's a shame to live at home? Some right-wingers like Michael Savage seem to say so. But it's so self-righteous coming from them.

I’m pretty sure that Michael Savage secretly lives in his mom’s basement himself

 

[Bluezone777]

The thing about social media is many use it to share the highlight reel of their life if they even decide to be honest on it at all. You can be sure that when bad news comes, you won't be finding it posted on their profile unless they are seeking pity, sympathy or attention. It's quite likely that their feelings about themselves stems from what people say about them and this is how they feed their ego that can't take the reality that their life isn't going nearly as well as they portray it on social media. I'd say the only real treasure worth pursuing in this life is contentment and once you found it, you found everything you will ever need or want. I am sure that people who brag or embellish their lives on social media don't have it and are truly poor for not having it no matter how well they may appear to be doing. I sure wouldn't envy them that's for sure.

 

[Gus]

I’m jealous of my friends who live with their parents. I wish I could live somewhere for free, but unfortunately most of my family is dead and my only options are to support myself or be homeless.

 

[Jason76]

Living at home is ideal and I admire those that do, but condemnation of so-called slackers is often from the wrong motivation, as I noted.