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Is Social Media Making Us More Narcissistic?
By KATHERINE SCHULTEN
FEBRUARY 24, 2016 5:08 AM February 24, 2016 5:08 am
Are social media like Facebook turning us into narcissists? The Times online feature Room for Debate invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss questions like this one as well as news events and other timely issues. Related ArticleCredit Dado Ruvic/Reuters
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Do you spend too much time trying to be attractive and interesting to others? Are you just a little too in love with your own Instagram feed?
An essay addressing those questions was chosen by two of our Student Councilmembers this week. Angie Shen explains why she thinks it’s important:
As the generation who grew up with social media, a reflection on narcissism is of critical importance to teenagers. What are the psychological and ethical implications of constant engagement with or obsession over social media? How does it change our relationship with others and how we see ourselves?
“Narcissism Is Increasing. So You’re Not So Special.” begins:
My teenage son recently informed me that there is an Internet quiz to test oneself for narcissism. His friend had just taken it. “How did it turn out?” I asked. “He says he did great!” my son responded. “He got the maximum score!”
When I was a child, no one outside the mental health profession talked about narcissism; people were more concerned with inadequate self-esteem, which at the time was believed to lurk behind nearly every difficulty. Like so many excesses of the 1970s, the self-love cult spun out of control and is now rampaging through our culture like Godzilla through Tokyo.
A 2010 study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that the percentage of college students exhibiting narcissistic personality traits, based on their scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a widely used diagnostic test, has increased by more than half since the early 1980s, to 30 percent. In their book “Narcissism Epidemic,” the psychology professors Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell show that narcissism has increased as quickly as obesity has since the 1980s. Even our egos are getting fat.
It has even infected our political debate. Donald Trump? “Remarkably narcissistic,” the developmental psychologist Howard Gardner told Vanity Fair magazine. I can’t say whether Mr. Trump is or isn’t a narcissist. But I do dispute the assertion that if he is, it is somehow remarkable.
This is a costly problem. While full-blown narcissists often report high levels of personal satisfaction, they create havoc and misery around them. There is overwhelming evidence linking narcissism with lower honesty and raised aggression. It’s notable for Valentine’s Day that narcissists struggle to stay committed to romantic partners, in no small part because they consider themselves superior.
The full-blown narcissist might reply, “So what?” But narcissism isn’t an either-or characteristic. It’s more of a set of progressive symptoms (like alcoholism) than an identifiable state (like diabetes). Millions of Americans exhibit symptoms, but still have a conscience and a hunger for moral improvement. At the very least, they really don’t want to be terrible people.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …
— Do you recognize yourself or your friends or family in any of the descriptions in this article? Are you sometimes too fixated on collecting “likes” and thinking about how others see you?
— What’s the line between “healthy self-love” that “requires being fully alive at this moment, as opposed to being virtually alive while wondering what others think,” and unhealthy narcissism? How can you stay on the healthy side of the line?
— Did you take the test? What did it tell you about yourself?
Henry Xu, another Student Council member who recommended this article, suggests these questions:
— What about Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media feeds makes them so hard to put down?
— Do you think this writer’s proposal of a “social media fast” is a viable way to combat narcissism?
— For those who aren’t as attached to social media, do challenges from an overinflated sense of self still arise? If so, from where?
— If everyone is becoming more narcissistic, does that make narcissism necessarily a bad thing?
By Patrick Nardone
ReplyDeleteSocial media has been called a lot of things since it first started. Out of all the names it has been called I do think one of themy are right. I think it is turning us into narcissists. I think this because there are so many people that think they have a say in everything. For example the election, people protested because trump won the electoral college but not the popular vote. I am not one of these people. I do not make myself appealing to others by saying stuff that is not what I believe in. Such as trump is not my President. I do recognize a description that some of the people in school are but none of my friends are like that. I think the line is if you post every half hour to an hour it is over the line. If you post like every so often then you are ok. I did not take any test and if I did it would pass it. The only reason I know that is because I do not look at my twitter that often. Twitter is the only thing I use that I really care about. It may be hard for some people to not stop looking at a feed. This is because it may be interesting to them. Also it may have a good title or story. Also it may be from someone famous that the person likes. I do not think the fast is a good idea because it will happen either way and some people live on social media. So it will not work at all if we try it. Everyone could be narcotics at one time. If a person says they love trump and defend him a lot or even say to Hillary supports that I am right and you are wrong that is being a narcotics. I did this for the same thing while the election was going on. If everyone is becoming a narcotics it is not a bad thing. There is always controversies in everything. People are allowed to have their own opinion but people try to fight with other people that think otherwise. It is all apart of normal life and nothing is going to change that.
I can see where you are coming from but I think don't think that just because people are on Instagram a lot, that its fair to label them with a mental illness. I don't think a narcissist is the right word to use, social media makes people more consisted yes, but not narcissistic.
DeleteAround my house all of the time, I see my sisters on Instagram. It seems like they always are trying to gain popularity on it. Me on the other hand, I don’t really care about how others see me. Social media isn’t going to get me popular.
ReplyDeleteThe line between healthy self-love and unhealthy narcissism is that healthy narcissism doesn’t require other people’s opinion. You can go into school and not worry about what people are going to say to you, while unhealthy narcissism is the complete opposite. Unhealthy narcissism is the point where you have everyone in your life judge you for how you look, act, and do. It seems like everyone tries to do something new to look cool in front of their friends or they just do it to get friends. Like the new Mannequin Challenge going around. Everyone is doing it just to get popularity. What’s so cool about standing still in front of a camera?
Instagram, Twitter, and other social medias really are so hard to put down. I feel that the reason why has to do with the narcissism in people. People think that it’s so important to have the most followers on Twitter and the most likes on Instagram. Popularity is a big thing going on and it happens so much on the internet.
For those who aren’t on social media, they can still have an overinflated sense of self. This can come from how they think other people act around school or somewhere they go often. If they think someone looks “cool,” they might go home and try it themselves. People outside of the internet can still have an effect on people.
Narcissism will always be a bad thing. It’s just like how phones are a bad thing. They’re taking away our lives and changing who we are as a person.
I agree with matt on how he sees it i am very similar. I don't care about social media as much as other people. People do infact care too much about how they are looked at. They also care way too much of how they are known by other people.
DeleteBy Patrick Nardone
DeleteMatt I also agree with you. My sister also lives on her phone. It is getting really bad that people believe everything they read. Even if it is not a big problem bow it will become one in the future. I just hope that day never comes.
Are social media like Facebook turning us into narcissists? I believe so. Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultra confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism. I believe that social media is turning us into this because everyone feels the need to post every little thing they do online and share it for the world to see when in reality no one cares. I also think filters are a subliminal message to people to be something they aren’t and try and cover things up, which is what people use them for. I think that people are so obsessed with getting their likes and comments on instagram, twitter, facebook, etc. that they forgot what life is all about and forgot how to live life. I myself try and stay away as much as possible from social media because I think the whole concept is stupid and I don’t pay much attention to it. I thank god everyday I’m not obsessed with myself with some of my friends that are on these websites. I don’t think it’s good for their mental health and they need help. Some people are just so insecure that this is what they do to try and make it seem like everything is ok and their life is perfect when it’s not. I wish I could understand why people try and hide things instead of facing the problem head on and taking it on strong. I hope that one day social media will be old news and people will lay back on technology a little bit.
ReplyDeleteGood response man. But let me ask you a question if social media is stupid why are you on it?? I hear a lot of people say that but they are the same people I see enjoying the benefits of the good that social media has to offer. It can be both good and bad it just depends on how you look at it all in your mind and action.
DeleteI like some of your points Marco. I'm not a huge fan of social media either but it is just hard to stay away from it. You just what to be active in the world and its like you want to flex on social media. Good writing tho.
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ReplyDeleteI never really find myself too fixated on the article above but i do know a good amount of people, change that i know a lot of people that are fixated to much about social media and how many likes they get and all that other crap.The biggest one i know and i'm not gonna say any names in particular is people who aren't in relationships. People that aren't in relationships are usually the ones that take the most time to get dressed always looking at their camera to see if they look alright or good. With me i honestly don't care, i already know i'm sexy and ladies can tell me that. But i have a girlfriend in my mind and in my head i feel that i don't need to dress up or look super good or anything. I don't need to impress noone because i impressed my girlfriend enough to win her. So now i feel even more strongly well now that i have a pretty hot girlfriend sheesh i don't need to impress anybody at all i don't care. I bet you Vance, Mark, Clav,Tyler, Louie, Matt, Patrick, and pretty much everyone in the school that's a guy and has or has had a girlfriend can all agree on me when i say that. One example actually two people i know that worry too much about how they look is my boy Nate James and my sister. Nte each time he sees me he goes “to Eli was good how do i look” and i just laugh and i said you look fine nate and he says thanks my guy. I feel that girls focus on how they look more than guys because on my second example which is my sister she focuses on looks a lot. There's been a lot of times when my sister has texted me and has said to me too bro give me a shoutout on instagram or yo bro how does this picture look or bro how do i look. I feel the lin is when all you do is try to fix yourself to how people want you to be. I think you can stay on the healthy side of the line is stop worrying about what people think and just worry about how you feel and if you like your outfit than who cares rock it the way you wanna. The addicting thing that makes our social media hard to get off was just all of your friends are on there and there so many funny things and so many ways to talk to each other and have fun.
I agree with you Eli. I'm not a huge fan of social media but it is hard to stay away from in this day in age. You and I just mind our own business I guess and not worry about our looks. Keep up the good writing bro.
DeleteI ain't really a big fan of social media but since of youtube and everything i started to become more on it and i don't really like it. I still just mind my own business though and stay away. good job homie
DeleteI don’t see any on my family to fixated on collecting “likes”, i do see lots of my friends are too fixated on getting likes. They care about how everyone thinks about them, and what they look like, and how they are known on social media. Too many people are like that nowadays. They care all about themselves and who they are. The line that doesn't go past self love is when you don't care much about how you look or what people say about you, you also don't care much about how you are known on social media. Just an average person that doesn’t go crazy about how they are known or look. You cross that line when you start to care about how you are known, and how you look. It is hard to put down all these social media apps because this generation is so into them that many people think they are not fitting in if they aren’t on them. That’s also ways to communicate with friends and see what they are up too. People that aren’t as attached to social media probably run into problems because they aren’t. Those people are looked as very different if they don’t use them. They are the same people but just not as narcissistic as most people. If more people are becoming narcissistic now it isn't a bad thing because too many people forget how a normal person that isn't as narcissistic is. So people just consider them different. People are very narcissistic now and that’s how it going to be from now on whether people like it or not, it’s just how this generation is. It isn't necessarily bad but to certain people it is because they don't like how those people are. They see that they have changed and don't like it. I can see why those people would like it, but it's not a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteMany of my friends are always on instagram and try to post as much pictures to try and get followers and likes to try and build fame. I think it doesn't matter because it's not really who they are in person. Over the internet people change and act different to fit in. Also they try to be different to be popular and look better. I don't use instagram as much as I used to. I think social media can get out of hand because you can get made fun of easily and get criticized for everything you do. This generation is really into social media. People are always posting like every hour to update random strangers on what they are doing. I also think social media can be dangerous because people can watch you and stalk you. If you say you are somewhere somebody can go there and kidnap you. It happened many times and it's pretty scary. People get kidnapped everyday because of social media. Also people get recruited to terrorist groups through this too. Many things can go wrong with social media even though it seems cool and fun to post picture, it can get out of hand. Some people are glued to their phones and social media and they hurt themselves. People walk off cliffs and get hit by cars because they are constantly looking at their phones. They even made a selfie stick to help get a better picture of yourself which is insane. Also on social media you can get hacked and people can steal your information and track you down. I think it is crazy on what can happen through the internet and social media because back then it was almost impossible to contact people far away and now you can just call or text them and they will receive it in about a minute.
ReplyDeleteJoshua Rivera
ReplyDeleteSocial media has changed the way a lot of things are done. From the way we meet, to advertising for a business, there are countless different reasons people use social media. Personally I don’t use social media on a daily bases, I only check it once and awhile. But is social media turning people into narcissists? I believe that people have become a little bit more conceited because of social media, but you can’t blame social media for turning people into narcissistic lunatics who only care about themselves and always need to feel important. Narcissism is a mental disorder that makes people have an abnormal interest in oneself and one’s personal appearance. I believe that social media could make people more predisposed to developing a mental disorder such as narcissism, but ultimately, it is the individual's mental state of mind that determines whether or not they have a mental disorder.
I notice my sister and myself way too into social media. My sister has really lacked on it and she doesn’t bother with it as much but me I am always checking it or on it. I am very fixated on collecting likes 100% as bad as that sounds. I don’t mind how others see me I just love the likes. Ever since I started youtube I gained many followers and get a lot of likes so I am only on it to respond to people’s messages and stuff, If they weren’t trying to talk to me I don’t think I would be on it as much. Having self-love is loving yourself for who you truly are and not worrying what others think of you. Being virtually alive makes you wonder what other people think about you and how many people will follow you and like you. You can stay on the healthy side of the line by not going on social media so much and worrying less of what people think about you. Instagram, Snapchat, and twitter always got something going on and everyone likes to know what everyone else is doing that’s what makes it so hard to put your phone down. I think his writing proposal of “social media fast”is telling us that kids are so into it and that we should stop living in the world of technology and live in the moment of life. I feel like people who aren’t on social media live such a more peaceful life because they ain’t worried about what others are doing and what is going on in everyone else’s life. I feel like more people are becoming narcissistic to social media and it is turning good and bad. I feel like people are losing such precious time due to being on social media. Social media has changed our world from how it used to be and it will continue to.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this in many and many of my family members. I am like this too sometimes but not all the time. My cousin is always checking her social media and how many likes she gets. Which is very bad and she needs to calm down too but Me I do just don't do it as much as she does. I check but I know how many likes I am going to get I don't really care what people think of me they can say all they want. No I don't need to take the test if I know that I'm not 100% Narcissist so I am fine. People should try this test to see if they are very Narcissist because I bet they are. People worry too much about social media. What's so hard about putting social media down? Honestly that's a good question I really don't know. Its just like you want to stay updated on what your friends are doing and who their dating. That what they got new just everything. Its just were many people communicate now a days. Snapchat especially; Snapchat was a hit everyone uses it. Also how to stop being so Narcissist is that stop worrying what people think about them. Its crazy how people worry about what others think or how many likes they get. I think its stupid just be you and act like yourself. You don't need to post cool stuff on social media. People are so unhealthy with this people actually take this serious. Like people go on snapchat and tell other people go like there post or comment on it. People just want to feel loved like and satisfied and there's no need. People need to just stop looking so much
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