the • human • venture

One theory of self-esteem is that it is derived from comparison with relevant peers. We seek out cues from the people that seem the most like us, and use that information to evaluate ourselves. And there’s no better way to compare yourself with others than on Facebook. Therefore, Facebook should give us lots of opportunities to improve our self-esteem. Here’s five.

1. Be mindful of your appeared success quotient. This is really pretty basic, but it’s amazing how often we neglect it. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re successful, and it doesn’t matter if other people think you’re successful. It only matters if you think other people think that you’re successful.

2. Knowing is only half the battle. You need to decide what kind of success your Facebook page will make you appear to have. You can appear to be really profound, to have many satisfying relationships, to be doing something fun all the time, or to have a meaningful job. Choose the one that works for you!

3. Only subscribe to news feeds from people who appear to be as successful, or less successful than you.

4. Don’t use quotation marks when you post song lyrics as your status, on the off-hand chance that someone thinks you came up with it yourself.

5. Scrutinize your friends’ pages for signs of unhappiness. This is especially good for exes. Sure you’ll find lots of signs of unhappiness, but believe me: one indication of unfulfilled dreams makes it all worthwhile.

Bonus tip!

6. Watch The Social Network. Using Facebook will make you feel like you just did a line of coke off a coed’s belly. It will also make you wonder if you turned on everyone who cared about you for the hollow pursuit of twenty-five billion dollars. But hey, those are the breaks.