Lying on Facebook creates false memories

reality Check

Do you fabricate your profile on Facebook to earn more likes? Remember that this habit can lead to feelings of shame and worthlessness later in life.

According to a new survey, almost two-thirds of social media users lie to “airbrush reality” and make their lives seem more interesting than they are.

Young adults say they frequently lie about their relationships, promotions at work and holidays on social media.

One in 10 teenagers admit their subsequent recollections of the events they wrote about have already been distorted, Daily Mail reported.

The youngest are at the most risk, with 16 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds admitting that their memories have “absolutely” been compromised.

Some of these youngsters may succumb to "digital amnesia", believing their own versions of events and forgetting what really happened, revealed the survey commissioned by social networking site Pencourage.com where users post anonymously.

It found that 68 per cent “embellish, exaggerate or outright lie when documenting events on social media”.

“The dark side of this social conformity is when we deeply lose ourselves or negate to the degree that we no longer recognise the experience, our voice, the memory or even the view of ourselves,” warned lead author Richard Sherry, clinical psychologist and founding member of the Society for Neuropsychoanalysis.