Most of my Facebook and Instagram is full of other people sharing good things about their lives. I know the cynical internet commenters will insist it's all fake and that they're only putting on a show, but the reality is that most people in my circles are doing quite well and are generally happy.

I'm also part of several online communities and even forums where most people are doing well.

There's nothing about the internet that requires people to bias toward being negative and cynical. The cynicism does tend to collect in certain internet bubbles and especially certain cites that cater to outrage-as-entertainment (e.g. front page of Reddit)

Facebook and Instagram are primarily about showing. They are less discussion forums.

I post some positive life news on Facebook. I would never go around HN posting similar news.

People do show (on-topic) things they are proud of on HN, people regularly share their own stories, and not just bad ones, in reaction to submissions. Not really life news, no, but still positive content.

Job openings are at ~9.2 million in the US and there has been a persistently healthy wage increase over the past five or six years for the bottom half of the laborforce due to the labor demand vs labor supply imbalance. It all goes a long ways toward bolstering optimism for the mass public.

If the US ever gets around to properly improving its healthcare mess, these ratings would soar.

That's an interesting point. I wonder why you can't talk about how happy you are but you can talk about how unhappy you are?

Does it sound boastful or insensitive? Is it uninteresting to hear?

Feels boastful and insensitive in the current climate —- I’m guilty of worrying that it can make people in my circle who aren’t doing so well feel worse.

Maybe that’s patronizing and not giving other individuals enough credit. Thinking on my own past depression, I don’t recall that I felt worse because of comparison to others —- I think the bigger problem was more to do with my own lack of direction, displeasure with myself, and feeling trapped.

Seeing others take alternative paths and reach happiness might’ve actually been helpful for overcoming some of my self-constructed obstacles.

It’s become more about not wanting to feed the ad monster and give my circle more reasons to be in those apps these days. Apple photo stream is where we share instead.

Well, let's face facts. The population on Hacker News is going to be much higher than that 59% in happiness. The population has basically hit the lottery from a socio-economic point of view, and things will always be rosy for this group as a whole.