Do It For The ‘Gram
Whether you’re that annoying hipster friend who takes 12 different angles of your eggs benedict at brunch or the shameless selfie queen (or king – you know who you are), keep doin what you’re doin cause a new study says that taking pictures of literally anything you’re doing makes you happier.
Plus like, if you didn’t Instagram it, did it really even happen???
As a self-obsessed generation with a distorted sense of reality, we all know there’s no point in getting all dolled up, going to a fun concert or traveling the world if you can’t show everyone you know. It’s like, common sense.
My point exactly.
So anyway, a new study, conducted by researchers at the USC Marshall School of Business, found we enjoy experiences more when we take photos to document them. After conducting several different social situations where the participants, who were split up into two groups (allowed to take photos vs. not) were asked how much they enjoyed the activity. The group that was allowed to take photos were found to be more genuinely engaged and immersed in their activity than those who were not. But the study found that it’s not the photo itself that brings the happiness. It’s the process before taking the pic.
“You’re looking for things you want to capture, that you may want to hang onto,” researcher Kristin Diehl explained to Time magazine. “That gets people more engaged in the experience, and they tend to enjoy it more.
Kim gets it.
I suppose one could argue that living in the moment is more important than a photo, but we can’t let picture perfect moments like this go by.
So there you have it. Next time you’re feelin yourself, see a basic sunset, stumble into some perfect lighting, or just want to snap a photo of how delish your meal looks, now you have an excuse to snap as many pictures as you want, because your happiness depends on it.
