McKee 1 Trisha McKee Mr.

Newman English 101: Rhetoric 15 November 2013 Leading up to Narcissism Social media sites have become one of the biggest trends in the world. It allows for people to go beyond their circle of friends and expand it into something that can either enhance or demolish their self-view. In studies that have been done to examine the lasting effects that social media sites have on teenagers and their view on them as people and the influence that it has on others. The results of these studies have shown that the more young people that use one of these sites tend to become more self-loving. Another effect that it has on people is that they are able to post anything they want about how they feel or what they are doing instead of waiting for face to face communication they have an audience waiting and listening. Because of this Teens are now displaying more narcissist characteristics. While social media sites contribute to the creation of narcissist behavior among teens all over the globe it is not the sites that are to be blamed, it is the people who choose to use the sites for their own personal benefit. The debate of this topic is very equal, many believe that it is due to the sites but others argue that these sites are not the problem; its the people and the way they want to portray themselves (Poole). But not only that it is also society today, times are changing and that also includes the people in this time period. We are in a time period where teens are caring less of how others see them because they have the ability to portray themselves how they like with the

McKee 2 help of these social media sites. When teens are using these accounts they are using their more manicured and interesting portrait[s] of [themselves] and [their] lives (Poole). People feel the need to post about their otherworldly experiences in order to humbly brag about how great they think they are. One author that argues that social media sites like Facebook is not the problem is Joe Holt. He is an actor who has appeared on Greys Anatomy, N.C.I.S., and Scandal. Holt believes that there is a fine line between promoting yourself and bragging about yourself, when you start to brag about yourself then you are hitting the category of becoming narcissist, but he believes that the people that are self-promoting themselves are not reaching that point yet. As long as these people are promoting themselves in a way that is not presenting themselves better than everyone else it is completely ok. Holt explains that, there are numerous articles that detail the negative effects of the constant perusal of Facebook. But that others are simply sharing their amazing experiences in the hopes of improving everyones existence, but enough is enough. There is a fine line between what is acceptable and is not considered being narcissist and going on and on about how much of a positive influence on the world someone is in their own eyes. On the other hand, Eleanor Payson, a psychotherapist and author believes that social media sites cannot turn someone into a narcissist because narcissistic personality disorder is a true pathology that originates in deep and early childhood wounding. Payson explains that social media is an excellent place for someone with this disorder to endlessly gain superficial attention, and an easy way for them to manipulate themselves into whomever they want to present themselves as. Payson agrees though that social media sites are great platforms where narcissism occurs at an excessive amount. Facebook is a factor that would easily help at create a wide variety of narcissists but it is not the site that causes it, it is the people who are using the site in order to boost their self-esteem

McKee 3 by finding a way to make them look better than they actually are. Although the sites are a factor into the equation of teens becoming narcissist, it is not set in stone that if you use a social media site that you will automatically become a narcissist. The decision is up to the person whom is using the site, they decide how they are going to use the site to show who they are. If a person chooses to open an account on a social media site in order to just make them feel better about themselves or to deliberately make themselves seem above others then it will put them onto a path of being extremely narcissist. On the other hand if someone creates an account in order to connect with friends and family then no, that doesnt lead to a path of narcissism. A study mentioned by Jean Twenge, author of The Narcissism Epidemic, had been done to examine how different social media sites affects users differently had found that Myspace users have a higher tendency to steer towards becoming narcissist than Facebook users do. The study may not be accurate due to the fact that the number of Myspace users have decreased rapidly since Facebook has become popular. At this point, a majority of Myspace users are trying to increase the number of Myspace users by trying to make themselves look more appealing than they are. They do this by adding thousands of people whom they do not know and convincing them that they are an internet celebrity, but in reality they are just some random person in the world who wants attention because at some point in their lives they were deprived the attention they so clearly wanted. Social media allows for a variety of people to express themselves, it is a way to exercise our constitutional right of freedom of expression. Jeff Bulas, blogger, author, strategist, and speaker, believes that this is us seeing the democratization of publishing that allows us to express our ideas, insights and creativity for freefor anyone who has the time, passion, and persistence. Its a way for us to receive a response in real time to our voice of ideas. Bulas

McKee 4 believes that these sites arent creating narcissists but that its making people as a whole stronger because it teaches us at a young age how to take criticism. Although due to this empathy has been on a serious decline over the last three decades (Konrath).Sara Konrath, an assistant professor at the institute for social resources at the University of Michigan, has researched this topic to an extensive point. Konraths research has found that sites like Facebook are more frequently used by people with this disorder for more self-promoting purposes, which is why they tend to spend their time posting selfies and posting statuses demeaning others. Over time generations are changing and becoming more dependent on technology, because of these teens are spending more time online and depending on social media sites to help them spread their thoughts and problems across the World Wide Web. The debaters on this topic, found on Room for Debate through the New York Times website, have debated the reasons why social media sites are not the cause of the growing rate of narcissism behavior. A majority argue that these sites are just a factor of the equation to what is the real cause of this pathological disorder. While it is a factor, it is not the cause, but rather places where narcissist people can go to express themselves in a way where they have total control over what people see them as.

McKee 5 Works Cited Bullas, Jeff. "Everyone Has a Voice, Everyone Is Judged." Room for Debate. New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Holt, Joe. "Facebook Isnt the Problem." Room for Debate. New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Konrath, Sara. "Empathy on the Decline." Room for Debate. New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Payson, Eleanor. "The Perfect Stage." Room for Debate. New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Poole, Chris. "Dont Hate the Player, Hate the Game." Room for Debate. New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Twenge, Jean. "Its a Narcissism Enabler." Room for Debate. New York Times, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.