Happiness= Reality- Expectations
Towards the end of last year, I read an article on Generation Y Yuppies and their experience of unhappiness linked to a simple formula: Happiness=Reality-Expectations. The article was written by ‘waitbutwhy.com’ and published by Huffington Post. The article provoked much discussion and soon trended across an array of social media sites and user profile networks.
The article touched on the characteristics and experiences of generations prior to Generation Y- specifically the Baby Boomers and The G.I. Generation (“The Greatest Generation”) and how people’s perceptions of careers, expectations and self-entitlement had evolved throughout the decades.
The example used to illustrate the content and context of the text is a character called “Lucy”. Lucy’s parents were born in the 1950’s (Baby Boomers) and were raised by members of the G.I. Generation (“The Greatest Generation”), who grew up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They were focused on economic security and raised their children to build practical, sensible careers so that they could have a more rewarding and stable career. They were told that there would be nothing to stop them from securing their career goals, but had to put in hard years of work to make it happen. Lucy’s parents did better than they expected and felt optimistic.
Fast track to Lucy’s generation, her parents raised her with much optimism about the future. She was told she was “special” and could achieve whatever she wanted, almost as if it was her right. This resulted in her having a somewhat inflated view of herself and faced the world with much disappointment when she didn’t seem to live up to her own (and peers) expectations.
The article introduces the concept of “Facebook Image Crafting” in relation to how users have created an environment for themselves, which is carefully constructed to present an ideal portrayal of an individual’s identity. The problem with this is that it’s not realistic. People only publish and share content that will highlighttheir best moments/ achievements- otherwise known as “humble bragging”. If someone is tagged in a photo and doesn’t think it fits with their online aesthetic, they can hide it through the “untag” affordance Facebook offers. This goes for other digital communities evident in Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Flickr etc.