Instagram User Gets Into R93 369 Debt For The Gram. A social media user by the name of Fiona Melbul got into a huge debt because she wanted to impress people on her Instagram account.
A social media user by the name of Fiona Melbul got into a huge debt because she wanted to impress people on her Instagram account. The 27-year-old reserved her vacation to the United States of America using credit cards to pay for the trip – at the time she knew that she isn’t able to pay for the vacation. The total amount of the trip cost her approximately R103 172. She told ‘A Current Affair’, an Australian news broadcaster, went to the trip because she had FOMO [fear of missing out].
She said that she decided to go because of her brother. “My brother said ‘I’m going to Disneyland’ and I said ‘You’re not going without me!’ So I got a loan,” says Fiona Melbul. She went on to say that she thinks that the whole trip cost her about R149 390, which is 8000 pounds. “I think the trip, all up, costs about 8K. All on credit.” According to BBC News, the reason why she used that much money for a holiday was to get the “perfect shot” for the 777 followers on her Instagram account.
She says that she was trying to get her followers to be jealous. “You take those 10, 20 shots to take the perfect one, post on social media, then you wait for your friends to see it. Then you get all those comments of them being jealous. It makes me feel good that I can do that,” says the 27-year-old. Christine Bagley-Jones, a psychologist, says that some social media users may think that spending will lead to their happiness. She compared it to buying fast food.
“It’s just like buying fast food, not very substantial and nutritious, you’ve got to keep going back for another hit,” says the psychologist. She then added that we compare ourselves to others because we are always being linked to social media. Christine Bagley-Jones says, “That status-envy and downward comparing leads us to strive for this other life that’s not our own. After the holiday is done, you’ve got this debt but you don’t have the thrill of the holiday to look forward to, so it can be depressing.”
by Alexandra Ramaite
