In the spirit and celebration of our nation's founding, Time Magazine's July 8th edition featured two articles, The Happiness of Pursuit by Jeffrey Kluger and Free to be Happy by Jon Meacham. Kluger's story covered what cultural and biological factors may influence our happiness, and how it has become big business as consumers search for satisfaction in what they buy, where they live and what they make for a living .
Meacham's article explores the spirit of our country's Founding Fathers that influenced the creation of the Declaration of Independence, specifically focusing on Thomas Jefferson's pivotal three key words in the Declaration... the pursuit of happiness. He examines what that likely meant to our founding fathers and over the course of our young nation's history how these three words have been embraced and interpreted by new immigrants, thinkers,different races and even politicians.
As a marketer, what I found equally fascinating and thought provoking were research insights that Time shared on how we the people of democratic and republican persuasion felt social media influenced our level of happiness.
In short, Democrats felt more connected versus Republicans after spending time on social media (53% vs. 26%). And when it came to changing mood or self-esteem based on the number of "likes" one received for their social media posts, again Democrats outpaced Republicans on the feel-good barometer (64% vs. 29%).
Where Republicans expressed higher levels of happiness after spending time on social media
was in feeling happier for others (34% vs. 23%). In other words, the success and good fortune of others.
What might this tell us? Without more scientific evidence to back me up, possibly those on the liberal side of the belief spectrum may be more communal, with happiness driven by active engagement and connectedness. Whereas, happiness for those more conservative, comes from independent self-found enjoyment, which interestingly aligns nicely with the Declaration's words the enjoyment of life and liberty, which just precedes the pursuit of happiness.
Many others have explored the impact social media has influenced our pursuit of happiness. For example, Daily Tekk's Think Tank recently poised the question, "Does social media sabotage happiness?"
Kluger and Meacham's articles explore the topic of happiness with great balance and thought. If you don't have a subscription to Time I would strongly encourage picking up a copy. Not just in the spirit of our nation's founding, but to gain a deeper insights on how the pursuit of happiness drives our psyche. For marketers important stuff as we engage consumers with our brands in the constant quest for happiness.
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