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SALT LAKE CITY — Could constantly logging on to Facebook lead to financial stress? According to a recent report, people may feel a sense of financial failure when they look at all of the things their friends are able to do.
It's the digital version of "keeping up with the Joneses." The report from Creditcards.com says people can feel depressed when they see their friends taking vacations, buying new gadgets of dining out all the time.
"In many cases, they're going to compare themselves to their friends and those that they talk to on a regular basis," said Preston Cochrane, president of the AAA Fair Credit Foundation.
While someone may feel happy that their friend is living well, it can lead to a sense of failure when someone compares their life to the life they imagine their friends are having. Cochrane said he sees people who feel depressed when they become fixated on the financial successes their friends may be having. Some people combat these feelings by going out and spending more money, which could lead to more stress.
But, he said people shouldn't judge a book by its cover. We never know how much debt our social media friends may be in.
"People should not feel like a financial failure, by any means, just because of what their friends are doing," Cochrane said.
If this becomes a problem, the person who feels the economic stress may have to quit using these sites, altogether.
"There is no reason why it should make you feel depressed if, every time you turn it on, you're viewing what people are doing and having fun and going places when you're not," Cochrane said.
But "unfriending" someone online probably won't fix the problem. According to Cochrane, it's best for people to focus on the positives in their own life and not worry about others.
