Social media is making us unhappy about our finances and encouraging us to make 'regrettable' impulse purchases.
According to a new study by Bankrate, nearly half of millennials and 'Gen Z' users of social media feel negatively about their own finances and appearance when they see other people's posts.
The survey highlights that our newsfeeds are damaging users' ability to manage their money properly as well, with 64% of all US adults surveyed saying they've regretted buying at least one product they saw on social media.
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Younger users of social media also told Bankrate that they want to look successful on social media, with 46% of Gen Z users admitting they have posted things on social media in order to 'look successful in the eyes of others'.
The research also claims that influencers heavily influence social media users doing some regrettable shopping.
Ted Rossman, a credit card analyst, said: "Influencers play a large role in the pressure to make impulse buys on social media platforms. A lot of people feel that they, too, could be that glamorous if only they had that coveted bathing suit or pair of shoes.
He added: "As we scroll through our feeds, we can get jealous of what other people have. We may feel like we can overcome that by overspending to put forth an unrealistic version of ourselves which we hope will impress others."
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Older generations report having less of a problem with social media, although 64% of parents said that they either 'strongly' or 'somewhat' agreed that social media was giving their kids unrealistic expectations about money.
Both Instagram and TikTok have added digital wellbeing features to encourage a healthier relationship between their users and their apps.
In June, TikTok introduced a tool which will give users regular reminders to log off if they've been scrolling for too long.
Meanwhile, Instagram now offers parental controls which lets people set daily screen time limits for their kids.
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