Social Media & Happiness

When I was your age, my mum always told me,“I just want you to be happy.”She didn't care what I grew up to be as long as I promised to stay happy. But what exactly is happiness? Is it a destination, or is it more like a road that never ends?

Is happiness on social media? It sure seems that way. People love posting perfect pictures of their best moments online. But if you ever want to feel bad about your life, just jump online and scroll through (滚屏浏览) those posts. Platforms like Ins and Xiaohongshu make us believe that we could be prettier, healthier, wealthier, and of course, happier. Plenty of research has linked social media use to low moods. One U.S. study found that people who use social media for more than 2 hours a day are twice as likely to feel lonely. But what if we' re the ones posting? When we share a happy moment, we must have felt happy, right? Well, yes, but over the years, I've come to discover—and experience—the“hedonic treadmill”. We get excited when something good happens, but after a while, we return to feeling the same as before. In other words, happiness only lasts for so long. As the effects of one“happy”moment wear off, we set out in search of new sources of happiness. And social media has made this search harder than ever. Happily, there’s still hope for us to find lasting happiness: It’s called“emotional authenticity”. This happens when we allow ourselves to feel and process emotions like anger, disappointment, fear and sadness. It's not easy, but when we are honest about our experiences, we build deeper and more meaningful connections with others. And those friendships bring us smiles that last much longer than any number of“likes”on a screen! This Thursday is World Happiness Day. Take it as a reminder that happiness isn't about chasing a picture-perfect life. Trying to be happy all the time is like trying to catch a unicorn (独角兽)—it's just not going to happen. Instead, focus on your own journey and accept the variety of emotions you' ll feel along the way.