You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with — Social Media included

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” — Jim Rohn

It is no wonder that who you spend time with influences the person you eventually become. Who you are with can elevate you as much as it can bring you down. But did you know that Social media in itself played a role in it? It has been shown that your Facebook news feed can influence your happiness. This is due to a phenomenon called “Echo Chamber”.

Social Network as an Echo Chamber

An echo chamber is a metaphorical description of a situation in which informations, ideas, or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a defined system. Inside a figurative echo chamber, official sources often go unquestioned and different or competing views are censored, disallowed or otherwise underrepresented.

On a social network, 3 factors influence the extend to what we see:

• First — who we follow and what news or stories they share;
• Second — among all the post shared by who you follow, which ones are displayed by the social media’s timeline algorithm;
• Third — which of the displayed posts we actually click on.

If the second factor is the primary driver of the echo chamber, then social media deserves all the blame. It was the case when Facebook proved that its timeline feeds can influence the happiness of its users. Alternatively, if the first or the third factor is responsible for the echo chamber, then we have created our own.

Social Media creates a digital comfort zone where our ideas are comforted and shape our thoughts.

You may be the most conscious and smartest individual around, but if you are constantly surrounded by negative, fear-based posts and stories in your digital journey, it will impact who you eventually become and your progression in life. If you are heavily grounded, there may be a limited downside that the negative feeds can bring you. However, you also get a limited upside as you are spending time with people who hold you back rather than people who can be elevating you.

If you hang out with a bunch of pessimists who believe that the world is out to get them and there is nothing worthwhile, you will start to descend into a pool of negativity at some point, even if you are initially a positive person.

Alternatively, if you follow a group of successful, positive individuals who believe in taking responsibility for their lives, you will become a proactive individual who shapes his/her future.