[bmj]

There's an essay[0] in the latest edition of The New Atlantis titled "Reading Ourselves to Death," and the premise is that our brains are really not currently wired in such a way to take in so much information via text.

I think you are correct -- that we should feel good about a friend's vacation, or ideal job. However, in real life, we are exposed to those things in a much more limited way: you meet a friend for coffee and they show you photos of their trip, or a good friend calls to share their joy at the new job. Yes, absolutely, emotionally healthy humans should feel good about that. However, social media skews the equation, heavily. First, EVERYONE on your feed is posting how great their lives are, and, second, how many of those great lives are carefully curated for public consumption? When you are doing life with other people, yes, you share the joys and moments for celebration, but you likely also share the hard times that don't make it to social media. It really helps to know other people experience the same sorts of disappointment and pain that you do.

[0] https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/reading-ourselve... (might be paywalled)