Dr. Aziz keeps reinstalling Instagram to share photos, then obsessively checks for likes and comments. Positive feedback boosts his mood; low engagement triggers self-criticism and worthlessness. He traces how social media metrics create a cycle of validation-seeking that damages self-esteem.
Have you ever quit social media? I have, where I'm gonna uninstall the apps, you know, make a big deal of it. I'm getting off the sauce. And then you're, you know, next day you're out on a hike with your friends or family and it's a beautiful moment. You take a picture of it and you're like, you know, maybe I'll just post this. I'll reinstall the app just to share this. Well, then the next hour, the next day, you have this impulse to grab your phone and check the photo, not in your photo reel, but on the site that you posted it. And what are you looking at? Are you actually looking at the photo? No, you're looking at what's beneath the photo. You're looking at your engagement. Did I get likes? Did I get a response? Did I get hearts? Did I get comments? Right? What do people say? Very specific response in your body and your emotions. That's like, if you get a certain number of responses, you're like, yeah, good. And then if you don't hit that metric, you know, low engagement, no responses. Ugh, I'm a loser. Nobody likes me.
