Practice what you preach is a common saying that we all have been taught since childhood. When it comes to posting on our social media, does it hold ground? At times, there is a huge gap between what one says and what they do. One can post 10,000 quotes on their Instagram story on how to be motivated throughout the day, but they fail when it comes to reality.
This imbalance between what you post and what you do, creates an emotional imbalance and turmoil the psychologists call cognitive dissonance. When feelings do not sit well with actions, the mental conflict it produces leads to shame, regret, guilt, embarrassment, and discomfort for having contradictory feelings.
What Experts Have To Say?
Rachelle Scott, M.D., a psychiatrist and medical director of Mental Health at Eden Health in New York, says, “Humans like consistency, and that gives us a sense of control. Dissonance comes up when we realize there are two things opposing each other.” Though it is normal, the acuteness lies in how tightly the belief is held.
Ashwini Nandkarni, M.D., the associate vice chair of wellness and assistant medical director of psychiatric specialities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, explains that “a key part of cognitive dissonance is the psychological tension created when previously held attitudes conflict with new information.”
Sexism, racism, and other values can create tension in people if they are confronted with new information challenging their belief system.
So how does cognitive dissonance happen? It happens when the people we follow endorse something that we don’t believe in. For instance, when a celebrity who does not have a political inclination, and never has posted something on politics, out of nowhere posts a story about how political rights are being snatched away from individuals in another country.
The question now is how do we get exposed to new information. It is the media that we consume. In today’s digitally saturated world, getting new information is a bit difficult as we all have a filter bubble designed by algorithms that track our values and the type of content we engage with. To break this monotony, the Stories feature was added on Instagram.
Are Instagram Stories Responsible?
Instagram stories were launched in 2016. The allegations were rife and it was apparent that Instagram had copied the feature from Snapchat. The argument was that Instagram users wanted to share much more but did not want to keep it on their wall forever and hence refrained from posting it.
CEO Kevin Systrom told Recode, “People want to actually share a lot more, but they don’t want it to hang on the gallery wall.”The first thing now as you open Instagram is the story option which is inevitable to open.
Vox in their report put it aptly, “Stories, which disappear after 24 hours and are easily shot and decorated right in the Instagram app, represented a low-pressure alternative to Instagram’s high-pressure photo feed.” Stories helped Instagram to gain exponential growth in terms of daily users and engagement.
The 2018 survey by RBC Capital calls the feature, fastest fastest-growing media format ever. “Some 31 percent of Instagram users post a Story every month, up from 21 percent a year ago. And 47 percent of users watch them at least weekly, up from 32 percent a year ago.”
Stories were advertised and thought to be authentic as they can be anything and everything, live and spontaneous, shaky and blurry, documentation of real life as it is. The users posting it and viewers watching it both, have control over it as the viewers can easily skip the stories that do not interest them entirely or manage the speed. It breaks the notion of algorithms and predictive content on feeds.
The stories have various sub-features like gifs, avatars, filters, frames, music, etc. to make them more engaging and sophisticated. Recently, there have been options for creating reels, another feature, from the stories posted and adding highlights on the profile. The stories have become a pastime like no other.
As the Instagram stories became a hit, the emotions of the users also began to lose balance. The immediate switching of emotions from one story to another for similar and different users made the viewers unable to grasp a whole idea and let it sink in properly.
The stories of violence, human rights crises, and serious issues like wars, and deaths are so casually on the screens that it leaves the viewer desensitized.
During the pandemic, the heightening use of stories as a medium for social activism was not without side effects. The people and celebrities sharing the “issues” were paradoxically silent on similar issues earlier and were not doing anything to change the situation on the ground.
Raising awareness online is one kind of activism but it also needs action and this reckless online activism is not alleviating the problem rather is creating mental turmoil in the users.
Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, and Virat Kohli were some A-list celebrities who were featured in the blockout list of 2024, a global list of celebrities boycotted on social media for their “non-committal stance” on Israel’s attacks on civilians in Palestine.
Soon after, Alia Bhatt posted the AI image of the trending post All Eyes On Rafah, as she lost a few thousand followers. This dissonance between the two actions of first not giving any attention to the crisis and then suddenly posting about it was a move that got Bhatt a lot of trolling.
Read more: Is Instagram Making Us Buy Stuff We Don’t Need?
How Do These Two Ideas Reconcile?
Dr Joshua Hook, a psychology professor at the University of North Texas, highlights that social media exacerbates cognitive dissonance. Users often encounter conflicting information and behaviours rapidly, such as witnessing posts that oscillate between serious global issues and trivial personal updates. This inconsistency can lead to a sense of disconnection and numbness, as users struggle to reconcile these diverse narratives within a short time frame.
As reported by the Catalyst, on June 2, 2020, Instagram was filled with 14.6 million black squares to show support for the Black community against police brutality and racism. Many users, especially white individuals with little interaction with underprivileged Black communities, joined in.
These posts, praised for “bravery” and “activism” unintentionally harmed the Black Lives Matter movement by covering up important information and resources under the BLM and BlackLivesMatter hashtags with black images.
In India, for instance, during the pandemic, many celebrities mourned the situation of migrant workers in the country and the next story was about their vacation in Maldives. The users in such cases, do not know how to process the information and the immediate vibe change in the stories.
In essence, the digital age, particularly through platforms like Instagram Stories, has exposed a significant gap between online expressions and real-life actions, illustrating the age-old adage “practice what you preach”.
This discrepancy often leads to cognitive dissonance, causing emotional turmoil as individuals struggle to reconcile their beliefs with contradictory behaviours. Despite the spontaneity and engagement Instagram Stories offer, they contribute to desensitization and inconsistency, showing the importance of aligning our online presence with genuine actions to foster authentic activism and mental well-being.
Ultimately, cognitive dissonance on social media can influence behaviours and attitudes by pushing users to compartmentalize their thoughts, seek out information that confirms existing beliefs (confirmation bias), or alter their perceptions to reduce discomfort. Most people opt for the first option but the real question is- Have we forgotten that there is a life outside the social media platforms?
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Forbes, Business Insider, Vox
This post is tagged under: Cognitive Dissonance, Social Media, Mental Health, Instagram Stories, Digital Wellbeing, OnlineBehavior, Confirmation Bias, Emotional Health, Social Media Awareness, Authentic Activism, Digital Detox, Mindful Scrolling, Mental Health Awareness, Social Media Effects, Online Consistency
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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