(FreedomBeacon.com)- According to a new survey, social media sites like Instagram and TikTok significantly influence users’ wallets, and over half of Generation Z and Millennials are unhappy with their financial condition.
According to a recent Bankrate study, more than one in three U.S. consumers who use social media (34%) say they’ve felt bad about their finances after viewing other users’ posts.
These sensations included jealously, inadequacy, worry, embarrassment, and wrath, Bankrate reported.
Younger generations suffer the hardest, with over half of Generation Z (47%) and Millennials (46%) feeling lousy about their money after using social media.
That contrasts with nearly a third of Generation X (31%) and just over a fifth of Baby Boomers (22%).
The research also indicated that social media makes people feel worse about their finances than other elements of their lives. The runner-up is “appearances,” with 32% of respondents stating social media makes them uncomfortable about how they seem to others.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents felt adverse about their employment, 26 percent about their living arrangements, 25 percent about their relationships, and 17 percent about their hobbies.
Nearly half of users (49%) acknowledged making an impulse purchase based on something they saw on social media, with most of them (64%) stating they regretted it.
Younger social media users (66 percent of Generation Z and 57 percent of Millennials) are more likely to make an impulsive purchases than older users (45 percent of Generation X and 38 percent of Baby Boomers).
Women are more likely than males (52 percent vs. 45 percent) to make a compulsive buy based on social media.
64% of parents with children under 18 using social media say the networks give their kids unrealistic money expectations, Bankrate says.
While users navigate through their social media feeds, looking at other people’s postings and feeling poorly about their life, over half (46%) of Generation Z and more than a third (38%) of Millennials report producing social media posts to appear successful to others.
Ted Rossman, a Bankrate credit card senior industry analyst, said that social media distorts reality because individuals put their best foot forward and sometimes depict exaggerated versions of themselves.
Rossman said that you don’t know if someone took on a lot of debt to afford the great trip or the nicely put-together clothes in their photos. This might lead to “keeping up with the Joneses” competitiveness among friends and acquaintances.
