Jami Chiusano

-ism Paper
Facebook Kings and Queens: The Modern Day Narcissists
In todays generation, social media has taken over. Whether it is
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or even Snapchat, everyone loves to
broadcast their daily lives on countless social media platforms. This rise of
social media has created the monsters of the modern day narcissists,
constantly taking photos of and comparing themselves to others. Social
media sites, Facebook in particular, have started a new and steadily rising
epidemic of selfie-takers and people completely driven by narcissism.
What is narcissism? As defined by Mayo Clinic, narcissism is a
personality disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own
importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others.
But what is a personality disorder? Mayo Clinic defines that as a condition
in which people have traits that cause them to feel and behave in socially
distressing ways, limiting their ability to function in relationships and other
areas of their life. So, when you mix the two together, you get a person
that is completely in love with themself, all the while being extremely selfconscious with a low self-esteem. It is said that narcissists have a hard
time functioning in relationships, work, school, or other social affairs.
Typically, however, narcissists may use this full-of-themselves behaviour
as a sort of mask or protection, hiding from the low self-esteem that they

may or may not have. It is said that narcissists may often actually be quite
vulnerable and unable to cope with criticism.
It may be important to understand where the word and idea of
narcissism came from in the first place. The term narcissism originates
from the Mythological God called Narcissus. Narcissus was known for his
extremely handsome features; however, he felt that everyone who loved
him was not worthy of loving him. One day, Narcissus came across a small
body of water and caught a glimpse of his own reflection. He fell deeply in
love with the image of himself and refused to ever leave the sight of it. He
stayed at that small body of water staring at his own reflection in water
until his death. According to the myth, Narcissus is still admiring himself
in the Underworld, looking at the waters of Styx, (Greek Myths - Greek
Mythology).
Falling in love with ones own reflection may seem absurd, but that
is exactly what is happening daily on Facebook. With todays technology
and smartphones with front facing cameras (iPhones, Androids, etc.), it is
easy for a Facebook user to post an attractive photo of themselves
wherever, whenever. Typically, it is said that in todays society, the only
narcissists that are left are in successful businesses and offices. They are
the strong head that a business may need to survive and thrive. However,
businessmen and women are not the only narcissists left in todays
society. The up and coming narcissists are fuelled by Facebook, a social
media website that allows users to project their ideas, photos, friendships
and relationships on the internet in one easy-to-use site. Not only has

Facebook made a large impact, but also front facing cameras on cell
phones. Everywhere you look in public now, people left and right will be
taking photos of themselves. Whether it be the camera app or the popular
app Snapchat, you can easily spot someone eyeing themselves up
through their selfies.
Narcissism is making quite the comeback; but with whom?
Everyone: pre-teens, teenagers, young adults, recent graduates, thirtysomethings, supposedly mature adults, and so on. According to Eric B.
Weiser, the relationship between narcissism, its facets, and posting
selfies, or a typically amateur photograph that you take of yourself, is not
age dependent. Facebook has created an easy-to-use platform for every
age group to access and use, so narcissism is blossoming across the
generations of today. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of all
American adults use Facebook as of 2015 (Pew Research Center). With
such a large percentage of users on these social media sites, it is quickly
understood how many of these people may be influenced by this
narcissistic ideal.
Although all ages may be using Facebook, it is said that selfies are
more commonly posted by women rather than men (Weiser). In two
studies with a sample size of 1296 men and women, ages 13-47, Polish
scientists Sorokowski, Sorokowska, Oleszkiewicz, Frackowiak, Huk, and
Pisanski studied the differences between men and women with their selfie
taking. They examined three different kinds of selfies: alone, with a
significant other, and with a group; and, set the users on scales of

narcissism self-sufficiency, vanity, leadership, and admiration demand.

It was found that women posted the most selfies, yet they were typically
not doing this out of narcissism. The men that took selfies had higher
tendencies towards scoring higher on the narcissism scale. The Polish
findings suggest that the link between narcissism and selfie-posting
behaviour is comparatively weak among women than [among] men, and
provide novel insight into the social motivations and functions of online
social networking. (Sorokowski, Sorokowska, Oleszkiewiczx, Frackowiak,
Huk, and Pisanski). While selfie taking may be more narcissistic with men,
they are still becoming a lifestyle with the entire social media population.
This generation has become so wrapped up in social media and
selfies, that there have been new words created for it like selfie and
selfie-esteem. Selfie-esteem may be defined by urban dictionary as:
taking an excessive amount of selfies to boost ones image of themselves
(Urban Dictionary). Not only have words been created, but a song went
viral over it. The popular 2014 song #Selfie by The Chainsmokers is a
song in which a girl is speaking the whole time about all of these
seemingly uninteresting things like Is that guy sleeping over there? Yeah,
the one next to the girl with no shoes on, then when the beat drops, she
says Let me take a selfie. The girl in the song explains her night out at
the club. She talks about a boy named Jason, complains about people
being too ratchet, says she needs to throw up from drinking too much,
debates which filter on her photo will make her look the most tan, says
her selfie didnt get enough likes, then asks if she should go home with
Jason because he liked her selfie. The song is certainly nothing of a work

of art, but with over 420 million views on YouTube, it is important to

understand the selfie epidemic. This girl went from being angry with this
boy Jason for talking to another girl, to considering going home with him
from the club just because he liked her selfie. So what is it about selfies
that have people so worked up about themselves? Or is it selfies that have
people feeling poor about themselves?
According to a study by Choi, Panek, Nardis and Toma of the Elsevier
Science in The Netherlands, people have become narcissists on Facebook
because Facebook allows them to self-promote. However, when people
dont receive the attention that they desire on Facebook (i.e. receive likes
and comments), they become upset. This study also proves that others
tend not to like and comment on narcissists posts. Individuals high in
narcissism were less likely to receive comments and likes in their status
updates than individuals low in narcissism. This effect was driven by
exploitativeness and entitlement, (Choi, Panek, Nardis and Toma). People
like to post things on Facebook, but people like to post things in order to
get recognition for the things that they post; if they are not getting
recognition, they feel unworthy.
In a study published by the US: Educational Publishing Foundation, it
was found that there was a significant relation between some dimensions
of narcissism and specific categories of selfies (e.g., vulnerable narcissism
with physical appearance selfies), (Barry, Doucette, Loflin, RiveraHudson, Herrington). Therefore, the level of narcissism depends on the
type of selfie, such as physical appearance, group selfie, or selfie with a

romantic partner. Psychology Today asks the important question the world
has been wondering: Do Facebook and Other Social Media Encourage
Narcissism? It claims excessive use of some social media may be
narcissistic. With over one billion Facebook users, the social media site
allows users to keep in touch with friends and family by posting pictures,
comments and statuses. The site allows one to easily show off a happy
and healthy life, while perhaps only showing the best parts about it,
typically through a lens without any explanation of what is truly
happening. For example, one could post a picture on top of a mountain
with a nice caption about how beautiful the view was, but they would
leave out the information about the blisters, blood and sweat they had
gone through to get there. One could post a selfie smiling, but there is no
telling what is truly happening behind the smile that is shown in the
photo. Are these people really happy? Or are they putting a show on for
their hundreds of Facebook friends?
Besides this false array of happiness showed on social media
platforms, what happens when you start to believe it all yourself? What
happens when you take so many photos of yourself that you begin to fall
in love with yourself (in a bad way) just the way Narcissus has. With selfies
becoming so popular on social media, psychologists and professors have
become quite interested in the why of it all within the past year or two.
Are these selfies and social media platforms creating a population of
narcissists? Smart phones, front facing cameras, selfie sticks, selfie
tripods, and selfie remote controlled buttons: they are all devices
becoming popular and common in todays society, allowing people to

become obsessed with themselves by falling in love with their reflections,

just as Narcissus did.
In a world where narcissism was once considered minimalistic, it can
be difficult to see something as simple as social media bring it back. The
modern day narcissist has become an epidemic by merely taking pictures
of oneself. Facebook and front facing cameras have created the modern
day selfie-taking monsters that are narcissists of social media. With these
technologies and lifestyle still somewhat fresh in todays constantly
changing society, it may not be obvious whether or not the technology
and idealism will stick around for a long time. It is not clear whether this
will mark our history as something our grandchildren may laugh at or
admire. However, one thing is clear: narcissism is here for the long run.
From Narcissus in ancient mythology to The Chainsmokers in modern-day
music with narcissistic themes, the idea of being obsessed with ones own
reflection is here to stay.

Word count: 2,008

Works Cited

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