There's been a huge rise in the usage of social media –
with almost it being irrelevant fifteen years ago, it takes up a major part of
our lives now. Facebook, for example, has over a billion users every day. This
growth of social media has contributed to a range of social and economic
shifts. Narcissism – having an unrealistic impression of self – has now become
a central element of research concern and interest.
Is social networking has become a forum for self-promoting
narcissistic traits? And maybe social media is turning everyone into a
narcissist? For seeking attention, some use the social media channels as
outlets for life-promotion places for publicity and recognition. Others take up
a huge amount of social network feed room. Such "friends" boast about
one’s successful lives filled with pictures and hashtags come off as almost
a little narcissistic.
Just the titles and catchphrases of many social networking
platforms also seem to reflect this narcissistic or at least particularistic
curve. Hardware creator made cameras that took photographs of their buyers, the
selfie happened. Selfie was named the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the
Year in 2013.
Currently, we have 100 million users on social networking
platforms, including Snapchat, who take selfies, run filters, and send them to
friends.
Researchers track
these patterns as much they can, but they're still around two years behind.
Narcissists are more self-promoting
In a 2008 report on “narcissism and Facebook”, more
narcissistic people on Facebook endorsed themselves and had more
"friends". This is consistent with what many people believe –
narcissistic individuals perform well in a setting where relationships are weak
and self-promotion is strong. Facebook is not only a platform for narcissism.
Social media is a tool for forging and maintaining strong ties, learning new
things, or merely providing amusement. However, for narcissists, it is an
enticing place to do their thing. This finding has passed through several other
studies around the world predicting narcissism and the number of interactions.
Researchers have more recently dealt with the topic of
narcissism and selfies.So many papers have noticed narcissistic people taking
more selfies, investing more of their time in social networks, feeling good
about it, and advertising themselves a little more (for example, sharing more
body shots and selfies).
They are also well embedded into these social networks,
with many friends and fans. Generally, men are a bit more narcissistic than
women, but narcissistic men and women are also using social media in a similar
manner.
Do social media increase narcissism?
The more complicated question is that the arrow is pointed
in the other direction. That is, does the use of social media cause
narcissism? This proved to be a much more complicated problem. When we
studied narcissism changes overtime for the first time, narcissism and the use
of social media might accelerate together. Though, this knowledge is empirical
but doesn't tell us about the use of social media by individuals, and it
doesn't tell us how social media impacts users.
Scientists have since attempted several different
approaches. Each of them is experimental. You take two random groups, for example,
have one group works on the social media page and the other group works on an
arbitrary computer task. So, you test narcissistic disparities to see if the
social networks category is better. There have been mixed and inconclusive
findings from this method.
Another way to test historical narcissism and the use of
social media is to see if they reinforce each other over time. This means that
narcissism predicts increased use of social media and whether that, in turn,
predicts that narcissism. This pattern is shown by at least one analysis.
The social media may even inflate the narcissism of those
who are predisposed to it, but it does not affect others. It is also possible
that the use of social media raises narcissism. Longitudinal research is also
reachable, however, that use of social media can empathize children. For
example, children who spend time in social media with their peers may be more
involved with the highs and lows in the lives of their friends. Therefore, they
find it best to wait for more data in light of the complexities of social
science and the difficulty to figure out how to answer the conceptual issue.
Successful social media creators
The effective creators of digital networking are
narcissists. They create bridges and create content for others. They can
sometimes be irritating and have a little potential for internet dependence,
but the role of narcissistic people in the development of social networks may
have led to the mass social media we have today.
Author: Rtr Megha
Ranjan
Rotaract Club of
Dumdum Metropolitan
RID - 3291
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