Mastrorilli 1

Bridget Mastrorilli

Professor Susan Strom

English 125

20 August 2017

Social Narcissism

This era has become largely based upon our societies social media use. When connecting

with others has become so obtainable, it has become a social norm to hide behind a facade.

When crafting your online persona becomes more important than living it; how is mental health

being effected by the rise in social media? Promoting narcissistic mindsets and a self-destructive

reliance on validation; we seek to prove that our own life is at the center of the universe.

Social media has changed the way people think. It does so like an addiction. Among

almost all current social media platforms there exists a common set of actions: likes, comments,

shares, and other positive reinforcement based on how others view your persona. This can

become necessary to the psyche and self image. For many people, each like and each share

received is a confidence and ego boost. “We love the boost in ego we get from these

compliments.” (Titlow,2) The pleasure of acceptance is so great that people put off what seems

like some of the most basic pleasures for those derived in social media. From living out of the

moment through a screen as they try to record a moment for a YouTube video, to the hordes of

people who hold off on eating a meal as they attempt to get the perfect “#food” Instagram photo,

to ignoring their closest friends in order to check how many likes their photo has on received on

Facebook. In seeking out greater positive reinforcement from social media, people change the
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way they live their lives, bragging the good and hiding any bad in their lives yet not actually

living them.

People are thinking and behaving differently because of social media, but is this

negative? Is it promoting narcissism? According to the DSM-IV(Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual of Mental Disorders) Narcissistic Personality Disorder is “a pervasive pattern of

grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy.” (Scott) Social media promotes behavior

and mindsets in line with this disorder. Lets start with the “grandiosity.” A feeling of importance

is normal, and in many ways good, however, when taken to an extreme it is a very negative trait.

Because of social media people can feel more important than ever before, and at a younger age

as well. While we quickly, and oft without thought, go through social media liking our friends’

posts and photos, we stroke a friends ego and send a virtual compliment. This can easily go to

affect a person’s heads. “The mindless approval of the mundane events you record becomes the

proof of your importance.” (Burr,7)

After the feeling of grandiosity is a need for admiration. The feeling of importance needs

to be reinforced by others. This aspect helps set social media apart from real world interactions

in regard to promoting narcissism. “In the real world, people are limited in the number of other

people that they are able to reach out to for positive reinforcement; but on the Internet there is

affectively no limit.” (Titlow,2) People can indulge in themselves from the admiration of others

without ever needing to stop or ever receive discouragement. In fact, social media platforms have

systems built in so that you can receive as much admiration as possible. Take for example,

hashtags on Instagram. By searching hashtags, you can find a host of photos from people you've

never even met. You can like their photos and after using the hashtags yourself, can attract others

find and like your own. One example is #me, which is a great example for how this can promote
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negative mindsets and behavior. “#me is the third most frequently used hashtag on Instagram,

and through it you will find endless selfies.” (Titlow,1) Selfies are the new norm. The most

popular are rather revealing, and the greatest number are from young individuals. To receive the

admiration they desire, these kids follow the precedent set for them. “You will find this stream

littered with photos of teenage girls lying in beds and fifteen-year-old boys standing shirtless in

front of a mirror.” (Titlow,2) Each one seeking to fill their growing narcissistic desire to not only

be admired, but to be admired more so than their peers. “A prime case of this would be an

Instagramer by the name of Michael Saba. Michael is 15 years old and has 45,000 followers.”

(Titlow,2) His posts consist of endless, repetitive, selfies; with practiced faces and poses likely

noted to get the best response from the endless number of teens on Instagram. His profile is

looked to, not as a goal to reach, but as an example. It informs people how to receive more of the

likes/admiration they crave. “For these young people it is natural to try and seek a sense of self-

worth from others, but because they can find this from others more easily with social media, they

could be less likely to form a healthy sense of self-worth.” (Scott)

With Narcissistic Personality Disorder also comes a lack of empathy. We create a sense

of detachment that results in decreased empathy. Thanks to social media, people receive constant

exposure to the life events of others. People see what everyone is willing to show every day on

the screens of their phones and computers. The death of a Facebook friend’s grandparent, the

newborn baby of someone you follow on Instagram, and YouTube videos for every human

interaction possible. While these things won’t stop mattering to us, they do start to feel less

significant than they did when we only heard about these things when being directly told. It

results in a level of detachment and decrease in empathy. This process of decreasing empathy

can even effect such positive empathetic emotions as admiring the achievement of others. “When
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everyone’s achievements are shoved in your face and you regularly see achievements like a

twelve-year-olds becoming famous from a YouTube channel, “(Burr,4) it can be easy to grow

numb to the work and achievement of others.

Social media, despite its name, is not very social. It promotes self-absorption and

narcissistic tendencies. Gradually, social media can change the way people think as they become

more attached to and reliant on the mental “reward” received by being on and posting to it. This

change is often towards a more narcissistic mindset as it promotes the three main aspects of

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and

lack of empathy. For most of recorded human history there are examples of people believing that

the next generation was more narcissistic, but in this time it seems like there might actually be

something to that thought.

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Work Cited

Burr, Ty. “The Faces in the Mirror” Acting Out Culture. 3rd Edition. James S. Miller. Boston:

Bedford/ St Martins, 2015. 31- 38. Print.

Scott, Brian. “On Narcissism: Its History, Definition and Cause.” Psychology matters.com. 9

Sept. 2011. Web.

Titlow, John. “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie.” Acting Out Culture.

3rd Edition. James S. Miller. Boston: Bedford/ St Martins, 2015. 122-124. Print.