Youngsters 'airbrushing reality' on social media to make lives seem more interesting can suffer paranoia, sadness and shame when they fail to live up to online image | Daily Mail Online

Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:55

New survey says two-thirds of social-media users lie to 'airbrush reality'Psychologists say some are in danger of succumbing to 'digital amnesia'This involves rewriting own memory to believe incorrect version of eventsStudy says habit of showing off on social media erodes personal identityBy Barney Calman for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 17:15 EST, 27 December 2014 | Updated: 17:20 EST, 27 December 2014

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To judge by their posts on Facebook, they are having the time of their lives. But almost two-thirds of social-media users lie to 'airbrush reality' and make their lives seem more interesting than they are, according to a revealing new survey.

The findings have led psychologists to warn that some may succumb to 'digital amnesia', believing their own versions of events and forgetting what really happened.

By lying on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, users may 'rewrite' their memories. Nearly half of respondents claimed to feel paranoia, sadness and shame as a result of not being able to live up to their online image.

Revelation: Almost two-thirds of social-media users lie to 'airbrush reality' and make their lives seem more interesting than they are, according to a revealing new survey

Our habit of showing off on social media is resulting in a dangerous erosion of our personal identity, according to Dr Richard Sherry, clinical psychologist and founding member of the Society for Neuropsychoanalysis. He says: 'Our need to document and share our lives is part of our nature and beneficial '' but the strengths and drawbacks of social media need to be understood better by society.

'Recent studies show that memories are actually modified and less accurate whenever we ''retrieve'' them from our minds, to the point of entirely changing their nature over time. Being competitive is normal. However, the dark side of this social conformity is when we negate what authentically feels to be ''us'' to the degree that we no longer recognise the experience, our voice, the memory or the view of ourselves.

'When this starts to happen, feelings of guilt and distaste towards ourselves can create psychological problems, including anxiety. This can exacerbate certain personality traits which can become unhelpful, if not outright destructive.'

Danger: The findings have led psychologists to warn that some may succumb to 'digital amnesia', believing their own versions of events and forgetting what really happened

The new survey, commissioned by social networking site Pencourage, found that 68 per cent 'embellish, exaggerate or outright lie when documenting events on social media'.

One in ten admit their subsequent recollections of the events they wrote about have already been distorted. The youngest are at most risk, with 16 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds admitting their memories have 'absolutely' been compromised.

A previous Pencourage survey showed the most common issues people lied about were what they were doing at the time, such as pretending they were out when they were home alone, their relationships, holidays and success of their careers.

Reasons for this included 'fear of appearing boring' and jealousy of others' more exciting posts.

The only study ever undertaken into the impact of social media on memory was published earlier this year in the Psychonomics Bulletin And Review, and concluded that the use of social networks such as Twitter are unequivocally 'damaging to autobiographical memory'.

This has disturbing implications, Dr Sherry says. 'Many studies have demonstrated that even the simple act of imagining a childhood event increases a person's confidence that the event happened to them in the past.

'Researchers have demonstrated how readily false memories can form through the simple use of language. Even the phrasing of a narrative can shape how we later remember it.'

Pencourage.com is a social networking site where users post anonymously. The site already hosts more than 65,000 diaries.

Founder Peter Clayton says: 'If our memories are like hard drives, we're slowly wiping them through the scattered way we currently document our experiences.

'We knew there was a real need for a safe space to preserve and share the true chronicles and lessons of our lives, the ones we actually live and should protect.'