Split Personalities: Why Are We All Mean Girls Online?

The Digital Diet

In this episode, I talk about:

• The dramatic difference between how you behave online and how you behave offline
• How social exchange theory might explain why you are more extroverted online than you are in real life, and how innate reward and survival mechanisms cause you to overshare information about yourself on social media
• Why the way you use social media is feeding the algorithms and inadvertently creating the negative experiences you have online
• How social media is encouraging you to compete, instead of connect, with other people by prioritising features that promote ranking behaviours above linking behaviours
• The creation of echo chambers on social media that reinforce your existing world view and make you less tolerant of other people’s perspectives and opinions
• Why proper conversations are important for self-reflection and the development of empathy but declining thanks to social media eroding our willingness to socialise and driving us to stick to lighter topics in real life discussions
• How presenting a highly-curated version of yourself online and not allowing yourself to be vulnerable has made you less forgiving of other people’s mistakes and flaws
• The reason why negativity and negative emotions spread so quickly across social networks, even when there is no direct contact between users
• How social media offers you anonymity, invisibility, and asynchronicity that leads to a minimisation of authority online and a belief that there are no real life consequences for your online actions
• The reason social media algorithms amplify the worst human traits to grab your attention
• How to be kinder on social media and present the most authentic version of yourself
• The 7 day conscious, conversational, and constructive social media challenge

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/018

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• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
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Music by FASSounds