The Oversharing Epidemic: How Social Media Alters Happiness

Scroll any social feed, and you’ll see it: check-ins, selfies, humblebrags, and posts proclaiming minor accomplishments. The impulse to document and broadcast daily life has taken hold. But this constant self-promotion on display erodes happiness in stealthy ways.  Sharing milestones or good news with close friends for support makes sense. But today, many compulsively post to an audience of vague “friends” and strangers, seeking empty validation through likes and comments.

Rather than cultivating shared experiences or deep connections, we document meals, workouts, test scores, and spiritual moments. This curation for validation fosters isolation, not community. It traps us in a glass prison of our own making.

This oversharing stems from social media’s success at hooking our innate need for social approval. But the ego boost from each post is fleeting, feeding an insatiable craving for more. Just as junk food offers empty calories, “likes” provide only hollow validation.

What meaningful purpose does this constant broadcasting serve? It distorts reality, portraying lives as perpetually exciting and picture-perfect when most moments are ordinary. But rarely does anyone admit that.

The true roots of lasting happiness lie not in accumulating external validation but in shared human experiences, service to others, and genuine connection free from judgment.  Fulfillment flows from lifting those around us through small acts of kindness, not trumpeting our own perceived greatness—true self-worth springs from inner integrity, not Internet popularity.

By becoming more mindful of our motivations and needs, we can catch ourselves before chasing the quick dopamine hit of social media vanity. The path to happiness meanders away from virtual validation-seeking down toward simple human bonds that feed the soul.