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Chad Nichols
Dr. M. Cooper
English 302 (online)
12 October 2013
Social Networking: Not For The Weak-Minded?
Social media is ubiquitous these days, and it has become difficult to ignore the Social
Networking Site phenomena. Some of the fastest-growing social media on the internet, more
people are plugging in every day. According to Bachelor of Science Soraya Mehdizadeh:
It is estimated that MySpace.com has over 20 million registered users, with a signup rate of over 230,000 users per day. Even more shockingly, Facebook.com
reported a staggering 733% increase in the number of active Facebook users from
2007 to 2008. Today, the number of Facebook users is estimated at over 175
million worldwide. ( Mehdizadeh 357)
Almost everyone these days is logged in to one of the many SNSs available, be it Facebook,
Google+, Instagram, the venerable MySpace, or the character-limiting Twitter. However, it is
my considered opinion that these Social Networking Sites are (despite their usefulness) harmful
to those of fragile psyche, because they support and even encourage such negative traits as
narcissism (although they are outside the scope of this work, there are significant privacy issues
attached to Social Networks as well). So what, exactly, is Narcissism? According to
Dictionary.com, narcissism is defined as inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive selflove; vanity (Dictionary.com). I will address the negative aspects of this disorder in due time.
To begin my study, take Facebook: each user account has the ability to create photo
albums on its page, and the administration encourages the user to upload a few pictures of

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themselves. These self-portraits (called selfies in common parlance) are organized in albums
that...show up on their profiles (Seligman 416), and are frequently posed, staged, or
manipulated through such programs as photoshop to showcase (or create) nothing but positive
aspects. Narcissistic users will often fish for compliments through these pictures, by
employing self-deprecating statements (I'm so ugly...Why doesn't anyone love me?) attached
to a photo of the user in flattering clothes and makeup: this allows his or her online friends to
reply with compliments and to disavow the narcissist's self-deprecation. This sycophancy in turn
feeds the user's vanity and reinforces their narcissistic belief that they are prettier or more buff
than their peers.
A narcissistic user will also try to amass a truly unrealistic number of so-called friends
(people who have asked or been asked to be kept apprised of the user's activity) the better to
show off their superior qualities (clearly, they are the nicest, most likeable people since so
many others are interested in what they are doing at any given moment, right?), and with status
updates, a user can tell every one of their friends what they are doing or thinking. The
narcissistic user feels compelled to inform Facebook of every move he makes in a day, even
minor things like having breakfast or paying the water bill. Facebook, in turn, will ping
all of a user's friends when he or she updates his or her status, thereby informing them whether
they want to know or not. Add to this the check-in function, with which a user can brag about
being in an exclusive locale without having to type a word (and these functions sometimes have
such inaccurate GPS systems that one could check-in from outside the door and still be listed as
inside), and you have a formula that makes a user seem more cool or hip than their peers.
As this is exactly what a narcissist wants, you can see how Facebook supports the disorder.
I have used the description Narcississtic and the word Narcissism a lot in a short

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time: As I said above, Narcissism is an extreme version of vanity. In full, the condition is called
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (or NPD) and the name is derived from the greek myth of
Narcissus, here related by Encyclopdia Britannica Online:
Narcissus, in Greek mythology, was the son of the river god Cephissus and the
nymph Liriope. He was distinguished for his beauty. According to Ovids
Metamorphoses, Book III, Narcissuss mother was told by the blind seer Tiresias
that he would have a long life, provided he never recognized himself. His
rejection, however, of the love of the nymph Echo or (in an earlier version) of the
young man Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love
with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away (or killed
himself); the flower that bears his name sprang up where he died. The Greek
traveler and geographer Pausanias, in Description of Greece, Book IX, said it was
more likely that Narcissus, to console himself for the death of his beloved twin
sister, his exact counterpart, sat gazing into the spring to recall her features.
(Narcissus)
Why is narcissism a bad thing? In contrast to self-esteem or self confidence (both very positive
qualities), Narcissism is a psychological spectrum disorder, and encompasses a wide range of
undesireable behaviours: it can cause the afflicted to lose focus on the positive aspects of
interpersonal relationships (and when warmth and intimacy are removed from the equation, a
narcissist tends to initiate manipulative, self-aggrandizing interactions that feed his desire ...to
appear popular and successful(Mehdizadeh 358).) This, in turn, can lead to an inability to
tolerate criticism which if the narcissist is sufficiently unstable can cause him to lash out
either verbally or, at worst, physically at those who dare to criticise him. Frequently, because

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the narcissist has to be the center of attention, he will deliberately make shocking statements or
admit to shocking behaviour in his status updates: this ensures that he will get several
comments or responses in a short time, reinforcing his belief in his own desirability or
importance. Narcissistic SNS users are also ...predicted to demand social support but be
unlikely to provide it to others. They feel that others should support them when they are
distressed, but they feel no duty to reciprocate (Carpenter, 483). In essence, a narcissist stops
caring about others' enjoyment of their activities and becomes obsessed with garnering as much
attention as possible (on Facebook, this is quantified as the number of likes received) from as
many people as he can. Finally, a Narcissistic user can waste a substantial amount of time by
reading through their peers' statuses and comments and trying to devise ways to one-up the
others. Clearly, this disorder is not conducive to a productive, well-adjusted lifestyle.
Luckily, Social Media users tend toward the lower-middle range of the narcissistic
spectrum. In fact, there remain many users of Facebook et. al. that do not indulge in narcissistic
behaviour. For example, many SNS users that moved away from home (like myself) utilise the
service for sustained, in-depth communication with friends who live far away (Seligman 417)
or that did not leave their hometown. High school reunions, anniversaries, birthdays all these
events can be set into the SNS reminder system to help users keep abreast of their friends' special
dates, and Facebook in particular is reportedly particularly useful for planning surprise parties
because many people can communicate at once, privately, without the recipient of the party
wondering where all her friends are or why they are all talking in the corner without her
(Seligman 417). Having been in on the planning of a few surprise parties, this is a valid point in
favour of SNS-based party organization! Facebook even tells its users about birthdays on the
user's news feed and asks if they want to get their friend a gift. The provided link suggests gift

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cards, and if one has a credit or debit card, or even a PayPal account, they can purchase a gift
right from their desk and have it delivered to their friend by the date in question. No more
rushing about to obtain a gift before the stores close the night before a friend's birthday in these
enlightened, digital times!
Clearly, social media is here to stay, and it does indeed have its benefits: distance is less
of a barrier to communication, since Facebook messages are instantaneous and long-distance
phone calls can be costly or time-consuming; SNSs allow (through the blogging functions) a user
to blow off steam in a typed rant that is as public or as private as they choose to make it;
homework or class project information can be relayed with less error than a verbal report and
less time consumption in transit than a written letter; and thanks to the searchable personal
information in a user's profile, long-forgotten friends from childhood can be located and the
friendship renewed. Still, in spite of the many benefits and conveniences, Facebook and other
SNSs bring out ...the natural human inclinations toward voyeurism and narcissism...and...the
allure of these frivolous qualities in addition to the sites communication value keeps us logged
on (Seligman 418). Due to these inclinations, and because they are supported and even
indirectly encouraged, these sites should be used only sparingly by the young and
impressionable: and if you are easily influenced, you would perhaps be better served to eschew
digital relationships, and just get out of the house and live.

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Works Cited
Carpenter, Christopher J. "Narcissism on Facebook: Self-promotional and Anti-social Behavior."
Personality and Individual Differences 52 (2011): 482-86. SciVerse ScienceDirect.
Elsevier, 9 Dec. 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.
Clemmett, Marcia. "Social Media Explosion." CQ Researcher 23.4 (2013): 81-104. 25 Jan. 2013.
Web. 13 Sept. 2013.
Darvell, Millie J., Shari P. Walsh, and Katherine M. White. "Facebook Tells Me So: Applying the
Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Partner-Monitoring Behavior on Facebook."
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 14.12 (2011): n.
pag. 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.
Marche, Stephen. "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group,
May 2012. Web. 6 Sept. 2013.
Mehdizadeh, Soraya. "Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and Self-Esteem on Facebook."
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 13.4 (2010):
357-64. 2010. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.
"Narcissism." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
"Narcissus". Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Encyclopdia
Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013
Seligman, Molly. "Facebook: Friend or Faux?" Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent
Psychotherapy 10 (2011): 415-21. Print.