By: Joelle Theresa Ngo The explosion of social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and a lot more in this digital age leads more and more people to an internet epidemic called “narcissism.” According to psychologists Jean M. Twnege and W. Keith Campbell, we are in the midst of a "narcissism epidemic.” The rise of the narcissist personality rate rose just as quickly as obesity from 1980s to present. And now, the narcissistic culture is even more emphasized through the use of various forms of social media. |
OOTDs, selfies, these are just some the terms invented by netizens which pretty much direct attention to people, especially the narcissists, as they try to gain self-worth through the number of likes, shares, and comments from others. This is why researchers Buffardi and Campbell at Western Illinois University found a high correlation between Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) scores and Facebook activity. And researchers were able to identify those with higher NPI scores by studying their Facebook pages.
Unfortunately, the widespread use of social media and internet tools are causing more people, especially those with narcissistic tendencies, to use it as a tool in feeding their egos.
Hence, common people who fail to reach a certain amount of likes that they wish to have, or when they see other people’s pictures with much more likes than they do, tend to feel unnecessarily anxious and depressed with their lives because they measure their self-worth through popularity standards caused by narcissism.
Needless to say, not all social media users are narcissists. Yet, social media is to narcissists what crack is to crack addicts: the more narcissistic you are, the heavier your social media use is. Most narcissistic people use social media to portray false, unrealistic world and self-image along with accumulating virtual friends as they acquire an audience who they can broadcast their imaginary lives to.
There is definitely nothing wrong with seeking other’s approvals, but it is a whole different story when one takes it way too far to the extent that it urges one to go for a relentless and impossible quest for a certain unreachable status, which undermines other people and impairs our ability to appreciate, build, and maintain our present circumstances, relationships, and careers.
Social media, when used properly, can enhance one’s life; but when used the wrong way, it can lead to one’s destruction. Do not let narcissists set your standards.