[coldtea]

Social status and the satisfaction (or lack thereof) derived from it are relative. This has been studied and hammered on again and again, not to mention the entirety of human history (and tons of lucrative rackets) attest to it.

And being "the lord of your destiny" is already not applicable to most people, except in an abstract, meaningless sense that a person can always decide for themselves. That doesn't mean they can wish reality away. (E.g. "Yeah, I have $200K in student debt, no job prospects after looking for 10 months, and my spouse got sick, but I can do whatever I decide").

[emteycz]

If these people think they're the only ones with problems and other people's lives are problem-free, well that's the issue. Not even the most accomplished person has a smooth ride.

[coldtea]

That's kind of the whole point: social media presents you with a highlight of the smooth ride scenarios in people's lives (and even those, made to appear even fancier with all kinds of tricks and cutting out of "behind the scenes" context).

And rationally being aware of this doesn't help either: you still get the raw first experience at an emotional level.