Ha said young people bear pressure from study and work, and feel worried about the future. They are affected by social networks, tend to undervalue themselves, feel lonely, and lack social connections.

Recent surveys found that most young people use social networks, but they also pointed out that the more they are sunk in social media, the morelonely they feel, and the abundance of friends on Facebook, Zalo and TikTok won’t lift the feeling.

“They can participate in discussions, make comments and suggest opinions on the platforms, as well as communicate with many people they have never met in real life. However, they don’t have true friends which are always by their side to share their thoughts and seek consolation,” he said.

The expert said that many young people nowadays tend to make boast of everything. They fabricate stories to prove that they are rich, have high education levels and are leading perfect lives, though these things don’t exist. There is a Vietnamese slang word to say about the trend – ‘phong bat’, or pretentiousness. 

Le Vu Long, 28, a software engineer, told VietNamNet that social networks are the ‘virtual world’: no one knows if the friends on social networks are true friends, or scammers, and if the images of social network members are true or fake. 

Asked why young people nowadays tend to speak too proudly or happily about what they do and what they have, Ha said they have an inferiority complex and feel that friends of theirs are better than them. They tend to hide their problems and only talk about their achievements which do not exist.

“When people see the images of their friends enjoying luxury breakfast at luxury restaurants, driving cars worth billions of dong, they tend to compare themselves with other people. They feel miserable because they never will have such luxurious meals. In many cases, they try to do everything they can to have the same good conditions,” he said.

“Many young people have to pay a heavy price when trying to swindle and do illegal things just to be as rich as their friends. It is a big mistake,” Ha added.

Also according to Ha, social networks have created a phenomenon called ‘fear of missing out’, i.e. people fear that they miss some information or lag behind other people, and then they always feel stressful.

Thanh Hung