Boosting Life Satisfaction: A Global Analysis of Social Media Shows the Connnection Between Biophilia, Nature, and Your Well-being

“Nature acts as the backdrop for many of our happy memories.”

It's likely that people have always felt a need to connect with nature, as it creates an almost instantaneous shift in our bodies, posture, and mood. But actually measuring the global relationship between humans and nature is still difficult. We’re still wrestling with questions like: how do we perceive nature in various contexts (everyday activities, weekend hobbies, adventures, and celebrations)–and do our experiences of nature vary in different parts of the world?

A recent study published in NATURE: Social media, nature, and life satisfaction: global evidence of the biophilia hypothesis sought to find answers. It used artificial intelligence to analyze 31,534 social media photos from 185 different nations. The researchers found that pictures of enjoyable activities, honeymoons, or vacations had a higher likelihood of featuring nature than pictures of everyday life. And it makes sense, right? It would be interesting to look at your own social media feeds to see if you notice this pattern.

But what does this mean? According to this study, there is a correlation between national life satisfaction scores and the percentage of photos including nature that are shot during enjoyable activities. The researchers show a relationship between humans and nature that enhances life happiness and emphasizes how nature acts as the backdrop for many of our happy memories, offering global evidence in support of the biophilia concept.