Sure, social media has become a normal part of life. But here’s when it becomes a red flag about your personality.
Uploading countless selfies, writing intimate status updates, and checking your notifications every other minute seems like just a part of modern day life, right? These are the markers of the relationship we all have with social media now. They are the norm; nothing to worry yourself about late at night. Or is it? (Don’t miss the signs you’re posting too much on Facebook.)
According to a recent study by experts at the University of Georgia, there may be more to it than that. The study, published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, reviewed the results of 62 different studies of social media use. The findings suggested some unmistakable correlations between social media use and what’s known as “grandiose narcissism.”
Social media—the spotlight for our egos
For starters, social media is already intrinsically linked with our egos. What started out merely as a way to communicate with one another has quickly turned into a means of self-promotion online. While it’s certainly not true for all of us, there are some who use these platforms as a way to showcase themselves, and almost always in their very best light. Why wouldn’t they? After all, it’s a quick and easy way to get some much-needed attention from everyone from friends and family to strangers and even celebs.
It’s how you use the platform that counts
So, when does social media use become a problem? The University of Georgia review found four common traits associated with severe egotism: how long people spend on social media, how often they tweet or update statuses, how many friends or followers they have, and how many selfies they tend to post. If you tick all of the above boxes, it likely sends signals about your personality.
All of these online actions have one thing in common: They are all ways in which we try to promote ourselves online. The more often you partake in them, the bigger your ego is likely to be. When people post pictures of themselves or constant status updates, it’s actively asking for a response and some form of attention.
Exactly how much time spent online is too much? The researchers didn’t measure. However, another study from Baylor University listed salience (social platforms being entwined in your daily life) and euphoria (the feeling of excitement when you use them) among other things as signs of genuine addiction. That is to say, if you are constantly engaged with social media on a daily basis, it could be a sign that you have a negative relationship with it.
Grandiose narcissists vs. vulnerable narcissists
It’s important to understand that the above study applied only to one specific type of person—”grandiose narcissists,” who are usually more extroverted, callous, and genuinely self-absorbed than their counterparts, the so-called “vulnerable narcissists,” whose egotism comes from their own insecurities. Vulnerable narcissists, according to the study, were not similarly obsessed with social media.
It’s important to note that social media is not turning people into egotists. “This is not evidence that social media causes narcissism or vice versa,” explains Jessica McCain, a graduate student in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of psychology. “Theoretically, we suspect that individuals with pre-existing narcissism are drawn to social media, but the present evidence only establishes that the two are related.”
The takeaway here is that social media is not actually the problem, merely a symptom. If you already have a narcissistic personality, chances are that you will display some of the characteristics mentioned in the study. In short, it’s far more likely that those who already have overly inflated egos will overuse these sites on a regular basis. Here are 10 clues to spot a narcissist—in case their first 20 selfies of the day didn’t already give it away.
Charlotte Grainger is a creative feature writer, with a flair for personal and lifestyle pieces. Her word has been seen in a number of regional publications in the UK. She has a knack for making any subject engaging and interesting and is able to promote her work via social media effectively.
Narcissists are characterized by a grandiose self-view, an excessive preoccupation with themselves, and an instrumental use of social relationships. In other words, we may recognize narcissists by their fixation with their own accomplishments, their inability to admit to personal flaws, and the inordinate amount of time they spend talking about themselves. But often, we fail to “spot the narcissist” because they can be extremely charming, at least initially. We are often mesmerized by their animated anecdotes starring—you guessed it—themselves, and their engaging manner. Unfortunately, social relationships with narcissists tend to be one-sided: They are uninterested in other people, and view them simply as a supply of attention, affirmation, and validation. Indeed, deep down, narcissists are plagued by insecurity and self-doubt, and desperately crave positive social feedback in order to quell these feelings.
Social-networking sites in general, and Facebook in particular, have been described as havens for narcissists. People imagine that such platforms are ideally suited to narcissists because, by definition, they invite people to discuss themselves, no matter how trivial the details of their everyday lives may be, and to attract attention from social networks in the form of “likes” and comments.
But is this really the case? Are narcissists really having the time of their lives on Facebook? Research confirms that, indeed, narcissists spend more time on Facebook than non-narcissists1, they engage in a great deal of self-promotion there2,3, and they use the site with the intention of shining a spotlight on themselves and attracting admiration4.
But despite these trends, no research had clarified to what extent narcissists were in fact successful in attracting the chorus of adoration they sought on Facebook. That’s where my colleagues Mina Choi, Elliot Panek, Yioryos Nardis, and I stepped in. In a recently published study5, we recruited a sample of Facebook users, measured their levels of narcissism, requested access to their profiles, and then extracted the number of “likes” and comments they received from their social networks in response to their status updates.
The results were fascinating: The more narcissistic the posters, the less social attention they received from Facebook. In particular, this trend was driven by individuals scoring high in exploitativeness and entitlement, two components of narcissism. Notably, exploitativeness (i.e., taking advantage of others) and entitlement (i.e., believing that one is the best) are some of the most noxious and insufferable facets of narcissism. Simply put: Facebook friends recognized these individuals and distanced themselves from them by ignoring them.
These results have two sets of important implications: First, they dispel the notion that Facebook is an unquestionably desirable venue for narcissists. Yes, narcissists are able to self-promote on Facebook and they enjoy the fact that their profiles are a dedicated space where they can focus on and aggrandize themselves. But they are not able to capitalize on this self-promotion by obtaining the attention they crave. Quite the contrary: Narcissists appear to alienate their audiences on Facebook.
In all, we may conclude that Facebook satisfies narcissists’ needs for self-promotion, but not for social validation. Second, the results provide unique insights into narcissists’ social relationships. Research to date has focused on narcissists’ interactions with strangers. As discussed, in these zero-acquaintance contexts, narcissists fare quite well, exhibiting a great deal of charm. Research on narcissists’ long-term interactions is scarcer. Our study shows that, over time, narcissists’ charm wears thin and the undesirable aspects of their character become apparent to friends, who choose to keep their distance.