Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Andrea — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:52:28 -0000

It's amazing to me that you got on Facebook before it was even invented. Well done!
If you are trying to make a point by exaggerating at least get your facts straight.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Jamie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:55:08 -0000

Not to offend any users but there has always been something foul about such sites (IMHO) in that it distracts from actual contact and connection in "real time".

Though the intentions for the site may have been originally benevolent, for me it smacks of blatant self promotion in the genre of narcissim and self centeredness in a culture where everyone wants to be a celebrity/popular. And while there are surely some people on there without such traits or intentions, it also seems to be related to being pretentious, social climbing and an all around attention seeking and look at me and how many friends/connections I have attitude that pervades our culture. Are the majority of these people really your true friends?

I do not have an account but have perused the site on several occasions to feel it out. I know anytime someone ask me if I am on Facebook I have to refrain from rolling my eyes. It is much more refreshing to see an authentic person rather than an advertisement.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

justula — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:24:23 -0000

What I find most interesting is this whole aspect of social media when it comes to getting jobs, how new and old rules collide.

The old school rule said to NEVER mail a photo of yourself with a resume.
The new school rule says you must invest in personal branding which includes writing a blog and having a Facebook page, both of which will very likely include your picture.

We then hear that employers everywhere Google candidates nowadays. Why is it okay to post a picture of yourself online yet not send one via snail mail?

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

ahoova — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:38:28 -0000

a very similar study was done by Yarden Lewinsky in 2007 (but it is in hebrew). Ayelet Noff translated the study and wrote about it back in 2007 and it is a fascinating read.

http://www.blonde2dot0.com/...

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

alexiwp — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:59:13 -0000

No surprise there!

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

TheWatcher — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:56:41 -0000

I think that some of the comments here are defensive because they are precisely the narcissistic Facebook obsessed social media junkies that the study is eluding to.

Narcissists need not think they're "too good" for social media (maybe in 1999-2001, but not now....now Facebook is too big for even them to ignore and so the narcissists only resort is to be the hottest most popular kings and queens of social media to satisfy their insecure egos.

...This coming from a Gen Y'er (barely) who got on Facebook back in 2001 but only uses it sparingly now.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

amazon coupons — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:41:51 -0000

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Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

leonard waks — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:59:59 -0000

This study is hopeless a-contextual. In the era of steady jobs based on credentials acquired in colleges and professional schools the average joe or jane did not have to be self-promotional. Today, when they are trained not to expect loyalty from employers and see their peers and themselves regularly tossed unceremoniously out on the street everyone needs to be self-promotional. The same is true in the social sphere; when the vast majority married before 25 and divorce was rare there was no need for social self-promotion. Today, as everyone expects to be lied to and dumped, people need a Plan B, and that involves self-promotion.

If this involves narcissim, one has to wonder whether that is the cause of our current culture or the effect.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

hurtzsogood — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:43:15 -0000

Let me throw a clue out to everybody: All we hear is twitter, facebook, and my space, what about the smaller and slightly more adult/cam type sites? Stickam-cam site where 15-mid 20 something girls go on cam with a bunch of horney guys waiting for them to lift their shirts, all by they way dress sleazy and are fairly whored up. FUBAR the first on line bar a huge popularity contest where (mostly women cause us men are pigs) use the lure of naked pics to get guys to join their fan base or even spend real money up to 100 dollars an hour to boost their popularity. And I am sure there are hundreds of others I get sick of the physco babble as to the relevance of these sites and we waste money studying it. Boarderline this or that I don't unerstand but straight up exhibitionists I do understand and some people's overwhelming desire to feel WANTED or whatever. Kind of like the girl who goes the club in a skirt so short the slightest of breezes shows off the goodies attention whores (layman terms) but throw this in the who cares pile already.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Stuart — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:28:24 -0000

This entire discussion is completely pointless. Yeah, you know a whole bunch of people who are into Twitter/Facebook for the purposes of "personal branding" whatever the hell that means, but that doesn't constitute a rigorous denial of the statements made in the study. On the other hand, the study poses one question do "people in my generation use social media [...] for self-promotion, narcissism, and attention seeking?" and tries to answer the question of whether gen-y thinks these things are good. As a Gen-Y'er I think we are overall narcissistic and shallow (have you ever read your friends tweets/facebook feeds?) and overall stupid.
And to answer the point about having a life. Even if someone is spending all their "real life" time hopping from bed to bed and drinking their days away at least they are having real, visceral interactions with other human beings as opposed to spending their nights at their computer talking to their "friends" on facebook. I have plenty of "friends" on facebook, most of them are people I wouldn't want to talk to in real life. Why are they friends of mine on facebook? you ask if not in real life. Because it doesn't fucking matter. It's facebook. I would rather spend four hours at a bar getting drunk and talking to people and really getting to know random strangers than spending the same time on my computer with my "friends." If they are really your friends pick up a phone, go get a beer, have a cup of coffee, watch a movie together, make love, do something real and important and visceral and complete. That is the problem with my generation. We want instant e-gratification, we can't put in the time for real life. We want to just have something quick and easy and non-intrusive.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

rosenbaum — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:17:34 -0000

Well, enough about me... Tell me, what do you think about me?

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Gianluigi Cuccureddu — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:46:16 -0000

Just because the Internet centralizes and makes interaction very transparent, does not mean that people "offline" are any different.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

georgiastudent — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:02:50 -0000

I assumed that the answer they gave about their peers was really a reflection of their own behavior/motivation. Kind of a tricky, revealing question!

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Troy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:38:51 -0000

Everyone that answered was thinking of someone else they knew, not themselves.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Joe Manna — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:02:26 -0000

I have to admit, that despite my self-centered tendencies, I wouldn't classify myself as narcissistic. I admit, personal branding and pride itself is more easily achieved through social media. This might be why Gen-Y is catching on quickly.

Gen-X pioneered the applicable uses of technology into daily life and work. For instance, e-mail is a product of Gen-X and they significantly grown the adoption of that technology to other generation. I feel Gen-Y is bridging live, social, public interactions on the Web to the mainstream.

~Joe

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

bobjenz — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:30:37 -0000

clever comment

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

me — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:14:42 -0000

this is a compound question. Self-promotion, narcissism, and attention-seeking are three different behaviors. i wish they would disclose how that came to that method of measurement.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Danny Cox — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:15:02 -0000

I personally disagree with the wording of the question. To include self-promotion with narcissism and attention-seeking is a little unfair, in my opinion. As a Public Relations student who has also been in local plays, bands, and worked for local Web sites, I have absolutely used social media for self-promotion. It's a great way to manage one's personal brand, and connect people with an event/cause/show they would be interested in.

However, I don't consider myself narcissistic or an attention-seeker. I consider myself a PR student who understands how to use the medium. I know that many of my fellow PR peers utilize Social Media for the same purposes, which I would categorize under self-promotion. The other two functions have a much more negative connotation, and they're listed after self-promotion.

As with any tool that gains any attention or popularity, there will be the people who use it to its potential, and others who abuse it and use it for the wrong reasons. I would also like to note that, in my experience, most stories you find in the news on social media are negative. This almost undoubtedly affects the perception of how it's used. I'm curious what the answer would be if the subjects were asked how THEY use social media, rather than their perception of their peers.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Michelle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:04:52 -0000

"but almost 40% (39.27%) agree that “being self-promoting, narcissistic, overconfident, and attention-seeking is helpful for succeeding in a competitive world.”

This form of self-promotion isn't a social media phenomenon, but a capitalist one. You find the same self-serving behavior offline, at events where people "market themselves, work the room, pitch their companies, sell their ideas", etc.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Leonard Kish — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:07:01 -0000

Replace "social networking" with "talking" in the survey, and you'd likely get the same results.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

malena — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:59:04 -0000

As much as I am biased to believe this is true, polls are pretty skewed by definition. The question itself is loaded and asked in a way to support a desired answer pretty much polarizing the results.

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Elizabeth K. Barone — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:12:00 -0000

My apologies - I completely skipped over HER avatar when I posted this comment.

This GAL knows what SHE'S talking about!

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

JR Raphael — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:10:29 -0000

I'm not a social media narcissist. I'm just really good-looking and send out the most interesting updates around.

Seriously, though, we looked at a different study showing the signs of social network narcissism a few weeks back. Turns out there are four distinct qualities that push you over the edge and officially earn you the self-lovin' label.

http://www.esarcasm.com/218...

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Elizabeth K. Barone — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:08:00 -0000

This guy knows what he's talking about!

Re: STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists

Elizabeth K. Barone — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:03:05 -0000

But I thought teens don't tweet? lmao

At any rate, this is just an opinion poll, as someone already said. Aside from that, how do we know that other generations didn't also take this poll? Come on now.