Your comment post should be at least 290 words this week due Thursday by 11:59 pm (worth 70 points) and you will be responsible for responding (respectfully) to one of your classmates in at least a one paragraph reply entries by Sunday at 11:59 pm (worth 30 points).
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
.
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?
I think of myself when I read this. I think this beacsue I care what people think sometimes. like what I'm wearing if my hair is ok. Sometimes I am thinking of what people think or talk about me.I would just like to get along with everyone. I think the line between them is when you start to change your self to make other people's like you. I think that is the unhealthy part and that deffinatly crosses over the line. No I have never taken the test but if I did I think I would be in the middle. Yes sometimes social media is hard to quit but Im really addicted to snap chat I just use for a while. It's also a good thing because we Can talk to new people and we can talk to friends and family from far away. It's bad though because people take things to serious and try to hard to make people like them by being something they are not. Yes I do this is a way to combat narcissist because it's true. People care to much about what other people think. I do think that those people have problems with self esteem because it's like they are missing out and they might feel left out and different and that might make some people feel alone. I just feel that people should just be themselves. If people dint like you for who you are just find people who do. Don't be ashamed of who you are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jessica because I think everyone cares what other people think of them. I also agree that everyone should just get along and not judge others. Everyone cares way to much about what other people are going to say. But we shouldn't care. I personally think social media does have a big impact people how it can change peoples ways on other peoples opinion.
DeleteI don't agree. I don't care what people think about me with what i say or do. If they have a problem with it, just block them, plain and simple. People are so judgemental about other people, but when someone says something back, they cry and complain. Treat others the way YOU want to be treated. Thats all im saying
DeleteI deffinetly agree with what she had said many of the kids our age really do show signs of being early narrisits. As much as people will deny it or go against it it's the truth. Kids may wanna be cool and get into fights and post about how they get into trouble so people thinks it's cool. We will later on realize that it's stupid to always get kicked out of classes or get into fights because it's only ruining things for us in the future.
DeleteI think most people who use social media such as facebook, instagram , twitter and other platforms of social media do become more narcissistic. I think this happens because so many people can now judge you through these platforms. So now the people posting have to make sure they are doing everything they post or like is the way other people want it to be so they can look good towards others. Sometimes being narcissistic can't always be a bad thing. Sometimes it can help you in the world but not on social media. What I mean by this is you can judge yourself on the way you look and the clothing you can wear. I think this could prevent bullying and other things. I honestly think everyone should just be themselves and not how other people judge you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Chris says. I think that everyone should be good towards others because over social media you can judge each other by anything. Also, I like how Chris says everyone should be themselves. I agree with that because if everyone would be themselve then we wouldn't get judged as much.
DeleteFor most people, yes. Social media is making a lot of people more Narcissistic. I believe that technology is growing way too rapidly and fastly. We have very technologic phones. And I think you don’t need social media to be “narcissistic,” because you don’t need social media. Most people today use instagram, snapchat, and facebook. They like to feel popular by the amount of followers they have, and the people that they can talk to. So they are becoming more narcissistic. I don’t like it, I feel like people don’t get out as much, or they don’t understand as much as they really should because of social media. Instagram I believe is one of the main types of social media that people use. Well so is snapchat. Almost everyone has those two, and if the don’t have it they definitely know about it. If they don’t, then I think that’s good. Because they aren’t revolving themselves around it. And if they do not revolve themselves around it, it means they have better things to do. They are either getting out, or doing something productive. I go in Instagram, that is the only type of “social media” that I really use. And it is pretty cool, but I like to do other things, Like go fishing or bike or go riding. But about 25% of my day goes into social media. It’s not that bad, but I wish it was lower. Most kids even 10-16 all use instagram. I see little kids with the newest phones and I personally think that’s disgusting. But maybe that’s just me. Their parents would spoil them until they get whatever they want. It’s crazy. But yes, I think social media does make people more narcissistic.
ReplyDeleteHunter i agree with you because people are always on social media now. Also most people are on social media everyday and they are only worried about what happens on social media. Also people put everything they are doing on social media.
DeleteThis weeks blog is asking if i think social media is making us more narcissistic which means up sessed with yourself. But I do think social media is making more and more people each day more Narcissistic because like on instagram when it was first made people didn't use it that much and then when they started getting used to using it and started to tell other people about it and all their friends starting using it and telling their friends the app started to grow and grow overnight and grew into one of the most popular app in the 21st century and to keep going on like facebook.But when people are now more selfish in how they look and what they appear in their photos. They gotta look perfect. And people are getting selfish over it because they want everyone to think they are pretty and that they have a perfect life but they got to realise that nobody is perfect and they got to stop thinking that their life is better than everyone else because it really isn't. They also become more selfish because they try to get all the followers and be the best with the most followers people even make apps to get 1000 more followers than they already have just to look cool in front of their friends they also have to take pictures of everything that don't even need to be on their like one time i saw a person taking a picture of a tragic accident and posted to social media which really made me upset. This society is messed up what they do for entertainment. The one time a parent let a kid put a plastic bag over his head and which was a bad choice because the baby could have suffocated and died then it wouldn't be entertainment for anyone it would just be a sad story on the news and how stupid the parent was to let the baby do that.
ReplyDeletei aggree with hunter because its totaly true.
ReplyDeleteI think most people who use social media, such as facebook and other websites of social media do become more narcissistic. I think this happens because so many people can now judge you through these websites. So now the people posting have to make sure they are doing everything they post or like is the way other people want it to be so they can look good towards others. Also, I think everyone cares what other people think of them. I also think that everyone should just get along and not judge others. Everyone cares way to much about what other people are going to say. But we shouldn't care. I really think social media does have a big community and it is very common for people to be able to hurt each others feeling. Also, sometimes it shows how it can change peoples ways on other peoples opinion.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with what you say because I think that people should be nice to each other instead of we should all get along instead of fighting for no reason
DeleteAre social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat making most people narcissistic? I think so. I think so because when i am on these sites, i see people making themselves out to be gods or something. Another reason i think this is because when you are on facebook and twitter mostly a lot of the time you'll see a kid with like half a face and the caption for the picture will be something on the lines of “one like = one prayer” or “ if you don't like this post is going to hell” then you click on whoever posted the pictures page and you can clearly see that they just posted it so they can get likes or people will follow them because they're such a “sympathetic” and “caring” person. Yes i do see some of my friends do this, But not so much my family. Or maybe just people i know in general. I don't really how many likes i get or care what people think of me. If it doesn't affect me personally i don’t care. I'm pretty sure the line in between that is when people start posting how they hate their lives and they're gonna kill themselves over how some inbred they never met comments “you're ugly” on their photo. It's really pathetic. Like instead of trying to make everyone else feel bad for them they should just reply to the person and tell them to say it to there face instead of hiding behind a computer screen. I don't think it's hard to put down unlike some people. Some people are on there 24/7. I don't know if it's an effective way but i just don't bother with them. I dont think its a problem for non attached people because they're not already overly obsessed with themselves
ReplyDeleteSocial media is making more narcissistic. People start thinking about how they look and worry about what other people think of them. People would be warring the same clothes just so people wouldn’t make fun of them. They try to fit in just so people on the internet wouldn’t make fun of them in school. All of the people on the internet usually have problems that they just take it out on other people just to make them self feel better. For example people that usually don’t have friends try to copy the “popular” kids. They weir the same clothes listen to the same music just to try to fit in with those kids just because they got bullied on the internet.
ReplyDeleteYes, i feel as if the internet and social media is turning people into narcissistic meaning in love with oneself. Me personally i don't really try to be attractive or make others interested in what i post on social media i post once in awhile on somethings. I also dont post what i post for other people's entertainment. But i know a few people who do including family members and close friends and relatives. In the article above I do recognize my friends and family In the description most of the time they are addicted to social media and getting likes and views on the other hand I could really careless but it would be nice to get a few likes if I ever posted anything. Sometimes I do care how others view me but then again it's my body and life not there's. The difference between “healthy self love” and “unhealthy narcissism” is healthy self love is when you're not full of yourself and you don't post things on social media to get others attention but you do it for yourself and your point of view and unhealthy narcissism is when you have to get attention or likes or comments and you have to look good 24/7. To avoid the unhealthy side you can stop trying so hard for other people and focus on what you like and not what they do. Me personally I didn't take the test because I don't see a point in it. I think what makes Instagram, facebook, or snapchat and other social media so addicting or hard to put down is because you get to see what other people have going on in their life and what they do or how they are feeling. That's why I think it's so addicting. For people who aren't attached to social media I still think they have an overinflated sense because they could be attached to other things like video games or television.
ReplyDeleteI think that social media is making us narcissists. I think it is because there are a lot of people that have social media and don't stop going on it and are on it all day everyday. But there are some people that only go on it sometimes and don't need to be on it all their lives. I use social media and i am not in love with myself i don't have to take a picture of myself all the time. I never really take a picture of myself because i don't care. I don't think that we need social media because it causes a lot of issues and people get in trouble. I feel like the world would be so much better without social media because of all the drama. Aldo people like to say what they are doing every second of the day. Random people can find out what you are doing if you put it all over social media and then something bad could happen to you or your family. That is a reason that no one should put private things on social media because people can get hurt and that could make things ten times worse. Overall social media doesn't really help us it only makes things worse. A Lot of people say that social media is the best thing ever and i don't think it is because so much bad things happen that it's not good to be around and so many people get in trouble every year. Nothing is being done to stop all the bad things from happening because people don't care and they don't see that there is anything wrong. I believe that social media is a very bad thing and people don't understand the power that it has
ReplyDelete