Hugh: Study Shows How Social Media Negatively Impacts Your Finances

There’s yet another study out that shows social media has a negative effect on us, this time when it comes to our finances and spending. The Bankrate study found that social media affects consumers’ spending habits, with nearly half of users admitting to making an impulse purchase based on a sponsored post. But nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, who made an impulse purchase from an ad on social media regretted at least one purchase. Bankrate.com analyst Sarah Foster told Fortune those purchases, quote, “can often harm our finances more than benefit our lives in the way we thought they would from social media.” Social media can also affect our feelings about our financies, with nearly one-third of users in the survey being more likely to feel negatively about their financial situation than any other aspect of their lives. Comparison is at least part of the reason, with 47 percent of Gen Z and 46 percent of Millenials saying they felt negatively about their own financial situation because of another person’s social media post, as did 31 percent of Gen X and 22 percent of baby boomers.