Narcissistic People or am I wrong?

[Scipio Afracanis]

For a couple of years since I heard of Myspace and a friend of mine explained what it was I have been weary/against what those sites seems like to me. Facebook and Twitter just being the newest of the bunch.

To me they seems like shrines people create for themselves for others to come and worship them.
Look what I ate today, I like _____ movie, so and so actor is hot. Look at all my pretty pictures. Aren't I beautiful? I have 500 friends/followers/worshipers.

Do you talk to all/any of them?

Yah,some.

Would you call 90% of them on the phone?

No.

Then why are they your "friends"?

I don't know.


Sure you do, they all want more people to accept,pay attention to there "page" and comment on all the great things you post about your life, i went to this trip and that trip and I do this for a living ect.........

Don't get me wrong, families that live far away from each other that use these sites as ways to keep in contact with each other is fine.

It just seems very self indulgent to me.

[EmperorBatman999]

Welcome to the modern world, where society pretty much raises people to be selfish and self-centered.

[Scipio Afracanis]

Welcome to the modern world, where society pretty much raises people to be selfish and self-centered.

I knew there were some, but the numbers of those using these "sites" are staggering.
10% legit and the rest............ as you described.

[Nimthill]

For a couple of years since I heard of Myspace and a friend of mine explained what it was I have been weary/against what those sites seems like to me. Facebook and Twitter just being the newest of the bunch.

To me they seems like shrines people create for themselves for others to come and worship them.
Look what I ate today, I like _____ movie, so and so actor is hot. Look at all my pretty pictures. Aren't I beautiful? I have 500 friends/followers/worshipers.

Do you talk to all/any of them?

Yah,some.

Would you call 90% of them on the phone?

No.

Then why are they your "friends"?

I don't know.


Sure you do, they all want more people to accept,pay attention to there "page" and comment on all the great things you post about your life, i went to this trip and that trip and I do this for a living ect.........

Don't get me wrong, families that live far away from each other that use these sites as ways to keep in contact with each other is fine.

It just seems very self indulgent to me.

Having a facebook account is about as self-indulgent as having a phone number.

/thread.

[Scipio Afracanis]

Having a facebook account is about as self-indulgent as having a phone number.

/thread.

More like an advertising page in the phone book where you are trying to sell your self to everyone.

Nice try though.

[AdamWeishaupt]

Having a facebook account is about as self-indulgent as having a phone number.

/thread.

= mega rep

[Lord Romanus III]

Welcome to not only society, but most of humanity. Ya know, those certain people that believe that we are special and above all animals. In fact, so special that a Creator made us in his image.

[Veliky Kaiser Theos]

I love hearing stories on the news about people wrecking their lives and losing their jobs and such things because of what they've put on facebook. Hooray for downwards social comparison!

[chriscase]

The narcissism is not new. I'd wager it's always been there, especially in people who fit the demographic of heavy users of social media (i.e., teenagers and young adults). The Internet just makes getting it out in the open much easier. Rather than spending hours and hours doing old fashioned things like talking or reading forum threads, you can find out how self-involved your teenage friends are in a few minutes of perusing a social media site.

The darker side of social media IMO is how kids who don't have a very firm sense of identity can create a virtual identity, and become very confused about the difference between their virtual identity and real identity. It seems to me that we are not very well equipped to deal with the effects this is going to have over the mid and long term.

[humvee2800]

As much as I dislike social media at times, I would hesitate to call it narcissistic. People by nature view the world through their own lens, and as such as more affected by how the world affects them or their views. Plus people tend to like feeling plugged in, and accepted as part of some social group. Social media fulfills this function more or less on steroids.

It is a big step between making posts with the assumption someone will read them, and being infatuated with ones self.

[Himster]

It doesn't make people narcissistic, people were clearly narcissistic before-hand, now it's just clearer who is actually narcissistic: huzzah. That's a good thing surely?

[AdamWeishaupt]

I need a nap.

[Hilarion]

For a couple of years since I heard of Myspace and a friend of mine explained what it was I have been weary/against what those sites seems like to me. Facebook and Twitter just being the newest of the bunch.

To me they seems like shrines people create for themselves for others to come and worship them.
Look what I ate today, I like _____ movie, so and so actor is hot. Look at all my pretty pictures. Aren't I beautiful? I have 500 friends/followers/worshipers.

Do you talk to all/any of them?

Yah,some.

Would you call 90% of them on the phone?

No.

Then why are they your "friends"?

I don't know.


Sure you do, they all want more people to accept,pay attention to there "page" and comment on all the great things you post about your life, i went to this trip and that trip and I do this for a living ect.........

Don't get me wrong, families that live far away from each other that use these sites as ways to keep in contact with each other is fine.

It just seems very self indulgent to me.

Lol, that's pretty much right. You've unlocked the secret of Facebook's success. Profiting off of people's egotism is a classic and successful marketing strategy.

[justicar5]

Am I alone in actually regularly seeing most of the people on my Facebook? (the ones I don't are people from university or w/e that have moved away) 100 odd friends and I could tell you where I know them from, and why I added them....

[Scipio Afracanis]

Am I alone in actually regularly seeing most of the people on my Facebook? (the ones I don't are people from university or w/e that have moved away) 100 odd friends and I could tell you where I know them from, and why I added them....

Your part of that legit 10%.

[Jack04]

Everyone has a narcissistic element to their personality. Otherwise the monumental scale of the world (and for that matter, the universe) would drive you insane. A (sometimes) misplaced sense of self-importance is a necessary element in a productive personality. Social media merely play on those personality traits.

[Col. Tartleton]

Am I alone in actually regularly seeing most of the people on my Facebook? (the ones I don't are people from university or w/e that have moved away) 100 odd friends and I could tell you where I know them from, and why I added them....

I have like 600, but they mostly requested me and knowing them it would be rude to say no. I haven't invited someone to be my friend in a while. I turn down people I don't know. I can't say I see them all regularly but I do see most of them a fair amount.

I'm a pretty sociable guy and I'm in high school during the boom years of facebook. I'm sure I'll add a thousand more at least by the time I'm done with college. I plan to whore myself out pretty good.

I wouldn't say I have a big Ego (unless you mean penis). Admittedly I was rocking a God complex a few years ago but it got stale so I shelved it.

[O.Chrysostomos]

I'm not sure if it's narcissism in the clinical sense of the term, normal human beings love feeling a part of a whole generally. Of course there are narcissists who use it, who tend to have over a thousand friends and who make outrageous status updates in a bid for attention but I don't think that's the majority.

I've got 12 friends on facebook, or possibly 13, I forget.

OT:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

What I find more distasteful is how obsessed society has become with celebrities. For instance, at various high profile functions recently the media reported more heavily on the attendance of certain celebrities (such as the Beckhams) who were in attendance rather than any other folk such as foreign dignitaries, writers, royalty, etc.

How can you swoon when meeting a celebrity? They're just a human who, against all other humans, stood out the day they were at a particular audition/interview and chosen. I've seen loads and met a few and really they're just like you or I.

[Fight!]

Social Networking functions as a method for people to socialize with other human beings.

Users join not out of narcissism, but out of the desire to socialize. Some may socialize in a narcissistic manner, but that is fairly uncommon. When someone adds another person to their friend's list on Myspace or Facebook it's almost always because they want to socialize with that person. I know of a few people like how you've described, but I assure you that they are the minority.

As for being self-indulgent, well, nearly everything humans do is self-oriented. And that which isn't self-oriented is either madness or has been programmed into us.

[Kjertesvein]

Have the op tried facebook

~Wille