The Online Trend of Being Sad

Image: bbc.co.uk

BY ANNA BOWMAN

Social media’s traction has granted modern-day society a new method of communication: the means to reach out to anyone in the world at any time. This has brought about new ways to make friends, relationships and other meaningful connections with those one may not have been able to reach in any other way but online. These friend groups are often just as valued and as impactful as their real-life counterparts. People seek out connections like this online for a plethora of reasons as society turns to become more integrated with the online world, and like how people are desperate to fit in in their real lives, people are desperate to fit into what's "on trend" in the digital environment of social media.

In a Mashable article by Jess Joho, this feeling is defined as "JOMO", or "the joy of missing out"--a backward version of what's popularly known as "FOMO". Mental health and emotional distress have both been huge topics online in the last year; people are more receptive to showcasing vulnerability and encourage others to embrace and mend what mental maladies ail them. This recent rising trend in the online world has broken the taboo of opening up about mental health experiences. However, these posts may be having the opposite effect on some users online. Rather than being seen as they are, the self-deprecating humor tacked onto posts about the woes of mental illness is viewed as popular given its relatability for many--yet is also seen as the new way to fit in. Jinan Jennifer Jadayel, a graduate student from the International School in Lebanon with a focus in social media and mental health, gave this quote to Joho:

"People label their sadness as depression and their nervousness as anxiety when the problems that they're facing often don't reflect those psychological problems. If healthy people are convinced that they're depressed, they ultimately identify with the glamorized social media posts, aggravating the phenomenon even more."

Undoubtedly, the generation using social media the most is the generation most prone to experiencing the perils of mental illness. As given in the Mashable article, a Pew Research study reports 7 in 10 teens believing that depression and anxiety are the biggest problems afflicting their peers; additionally, there's been a recent--and notable--uptick in suicide rates for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24. For most, these humorous posts on social media may not be a ruse--they may be a call for help and a means to cope with what thoughts plague them.

The glamorization of mental illness and its subsequent shift into being trendy can cause many to misdiagnose themselves and not seek a professional opinion. By turning mental health issues into a meme, those issues are being trivialized--even if it gives the affected friends to talk about it with. Many of these friend groups are linked together solely by griping about their problems; when you're wrapped up in an environment like that, it becomes toxic--you don't seek help, but rather take up a self-deprecating way of coping. It perpetuates the problem and only helps those with anxiety and depression so much.

Although this is a growing issue, several major social media websites have already implemented a few regulations against allowing negative trends to persist on their platform. Instagram did away with hashtags that encouraged the trend, like #proana--a visual trend on the photo-sharing site glorifying anorexia--and instead promoted posts under #socialanxiety that informed people, rather than trivialized the issue. The microblogging website Tumblr added resources for support and aid whenever a user searches for any alarming term, such as #suicide.

Joho's article concludes with a quote on human nature that defines much of our usage of new media accurately:

"Adaptability is what makes us both wonderful and terrible," says Janis Whitlock, a professor from Cornell studying the phenomenon. "We can easily forget what's healthy — can adapt to really unhealthy environments quickly. And it so often feels somehow right even when it's not."

While engaging in social media, it's important to remember that not every trend is well-meaning and healthy to participate in. Just because something is popular doesn't mean the trend is healthy to follow!