On the flip side, there’s a shit-ton of social media influencer types who are putting out unrealistic lifestyle videos that make the majority of people watching feel like they are living in poverty. We have entire YouTube channels about kids unboxing toys, and it can’t be healthy for other kids to see those videos of some kid opening up a thousand bucks worth of toys in a few minutes.
On my bucket list is sailing up and down the East Coast and/or doing the Great Loop, and I occasionally look at videos about it, and I came across one the other night with a couple who bitched about their crappy jobs and tiny apartment and so they quit their jobs, sold everything and got a catamaran to live on, and they are acting like anybody can do it. I looked it up and it was a $750,000 catamaran at minimum. These “glamorous” influencers have got to be doing a number on a lot of their viewers, given how easily their content is spread.
When I was a kid in the 80s, there was a show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and it was once a week and not seen by most people. Contrast that with the Kardashians that are non-stop on some TV channels, and all of the lifestyle influencer types who are pervasive across social media.