As with every topic, not every person who is posting on social media is doing it with narcissistic intentions. Many people post their opinions or pictures just for themselves and do not really care about the opinions of other people. On the other hand however we have those people who cultivate everything they post online to create a particular image of themselves which they want their friends and followers to perceive them as. Through reading various articles, the gist is that people who are being narcissistic online tend to typically have a low self-esteem and so they present a somewhat perfect image of themselves (posting only the good aspects of their lives, doing check-ins on Facebook when they go somewhere fancy and only putting up good pictures of themselves). Through the comments and ‘likes’ that they get from their following, they feel happier, more confident and more accepted in their social circles.
- Researcher Geraint Rees and his colleagues (at the University College of London) examined the fMRI brain scans of 125 frequent Facebook users, found that there is a “positive correlation between the number of friends the subjects had online with the number of friends they had offline”
- Researchers at York University (published in the journal Cyberpsychology) concluded that the people who spend the most time on Facebook and who post the most tend to have narcissistic or insecure personalities.
- Self-promotion includes: constant status updates, frequently uploading selfies, using quotes and mottos to glorify themselves
- People who have a high self-esteem and post more positive and confident updates received more positive responses (Amanda Forrest and Joanne Wood in the journal Psychological Science)
- Teens who spend too much time online are becoming more prone to adopting a vain, aggressive and anti-social behaviour (Larry Rosen’s presentation and the American Psychological Association convention)
- On social media many people (especially narcissistic people) tend to post the good things in their lives, which makes many of us compare our life to theirs and makes us “see ourselves as losers” even though realistically most of these people are editing their life to create a perfect image. (Alex Jordan at Stanford University)
- Viewing and editing your Facebook profile could boost your self-esteem. (Mary Ann Liebert in the journal Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking)
While all the above points are very relevant, Bruce McKinney states that it might be a good time to redefine narcissism since it is becoming a social norm for young people to interact with social media in the ways mentioned above.
I think that McKinney might be making a valid point, nowadays it is becoming the norm to take a selfie and post updates about your successes. Obviously it is an ongoing issue and we need to be careful that we do not become ingrained into constantly wanting to impress people by what we post online and ensure that younger generations realise the importance of relationships with people offline and maintain these relationships. It is also important for younger generations to be aware that social media is not just there for them to receive acceptance and popularity. It is also there for keeping in touch with your friends, to meet new people and to share opinions and keep yourself open-minded.
CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, T., 2014. Sharing the (Self) Love: the Rise of the Selfie and Digital Narcissism. http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/mar/13/selfie-social-media-love-digital-narcassism
WILLIAMS, R., 2013. Do Facebook and Other Social Media Encourage Narcissism?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201306/do-facebook-and-other-social-media-encourage-narcissism
http://www.ted.com/conversations/18501/are_people_really_more_narciss.html