Survey: Social media makes nearly half of Gen Z, millennials feel negatively about their finances
Social media has long been lambasted for making users feel poorly about their accomplishments or lifestyles. Turns out, it can make people feel bad about their money, too.
More than 1 in 3 U.S. adults who have social media (34%) say they have felt negatively about their finances after seeing others’ posts, according to a new Bankrate poll. Those feelings included jealousy, inadequacy, anxiety, shame and anger.
Even more striking, social media tends to make users feel negatively about their wallets more than any other aspect of their lives, from their appearances (32%) and careers (27%) to their living situations (26%), personal relationships (25%) and hobbies (17%), according to a new Bankrate poll.
But there’s clear evidence of who social media influences most: younger generations. Having grown up with social media or watched social media grow up with them, nearly half of Generation Z and millennials (or 47% for those between the ages of 18 and 25, along with 46% for individuals between the ages of 26 and 41) say they’ve felt negatively about their finances from spending time on social platforms, Bankrate’s report also found.
That compares with nearly a third of Gen X (31% for those between 42 and 57) and more than a fifth of baby boomers (22% for those between the ages of 58 and 76).
“Social media distorts reality in the sense that people put their best foot forward and sometimes portray unrealistic versions of themselves,” says Ted Rossman, Bankrate credit card senior industry analyst. “You don’t know if someone took on a lot of debt to fund the amazing vacation or the perfectly put together outfit depicted in their photos. This can lead to a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ kind of competition among friends and acquaintances.”
Key takeaways:
• Nearly half of Gen Z (47%) and millennial (46%) social media users feel negatively about their finances after seeing others’ posts, more than any other generation.
• More than 3 in 5 (64%) of parents whose children under 18 are on social media say it has contributed to their kids having unrealistic expectations about money.
• Nearly half (49%) of social media users have made an impulse purchase of a product they saw on social media and more than three-fifths (64%) regretted it.
• Nearly half (or 46%) of Gen Z and more than a third (or 38%) of millennials make social media posts to appear successful in the eyes of others.
Money isn’t the only aspect millennials and Gen Z feel poorly about after seeing others’ posts on social media. Social platforms make 49% of Gen Z feel negatively about their appearances, the most of any category, along with their careers and professional successes (41%), their personal relationships (40%) and their home or living situations (40%).
For millennials, however, the top spot remained money. More than 2 in 5 (44%) also said social media made them feel poorly about their appearances, along with their careers (40%), home or living situations (38%) and their personal relationships (35%).
Overall, social media negatively affected 84% of Gen Z and 77% of millennials in some way, compared with 55% of Gen X and 38% of baby boomers.
Other divides were also clear. Nearly 3 in 5 women (61%) say social media negatively impacted their lives in some way, compared with 56% of men. Women’s perceptions of their appearances were most impacted, at 39%, followed by their finances (36%), their living situations (29%), their personal relationships (28%) and their careers (27%).
Social media, however, was more likely to make men feel negatively about money (at 32%), followed by their careers (26%), their appearances (25%), their living situations (24%) and their personal relationships (22%).
Lower-income individuals were also more likely to say social media negatively impacted their feelings about money, at 38% of those making less than $40,000 a year, compared with 35% of those who make between $40,000 and $79,999 a year and 30% of those who make $80,000 or more.
More than 3 in 5 parents with children under 18 who are on social media say it’s created unrealistic expectations about money.
Parents indicate their children are also learning inaccurate financial lessons from social media, putting them at risk of being negatively impacted, Bankrate’s poll found.