Facebook users are narcissistic

   Every now and then I will post something quite witty on Facebook.  I'm not talking some famous quote by a dead person like Abe Lincoln, Jonathan Swift, or Albert Einstein.  No, I mean some sort of original thought or twist of words that gives me some sort of chuckle,and I hope, others as well.  When I started my FB account (must have been about 18 months ago or so now) I unwittingly sent all FB post replies to my phone and email.  My e-mail already was connected to my smart phone in such a way that when I get a e-mail my phone lights up.  Well FB sends me an e-mail every time somebody responds to anything I have posted on FB.  So, thanks to my smarter than me smartphone, very little that happens on FB that has ANYTHING to do with me, gets by my watchful gaze.  Needless to say, those rare occurrences when I post something that is "witty and relevant" I want others to respond and actually care when they do.
  I have been keeping a log of my time spent on FB, and the time spent on my smart phone with FB related activities.  It appears I spend 24 minutes on average a day on FB.  Twenty four minutes.  Roughly the time, minus commercials, of your favorite sitcom.  One more episode of "Big Bang Theory" or "Two and a half Men" could be squeezed into my consciousness.  Instead, I am browsing through pictures of people I have not seen in real time for some 20 plus years.  Why do I spend time looking at pics of your kids and vacations, when I haven't talked to you in like....FOREVER!? How is your time spent in Maui relevant to me today?  Why do I care?
 IF I spend 24 minutes a day on FB then I must spend at least 5 minutes of that reading bible verses my friends post.  Likewise I spend an incredible amount of time "ignoring" requests from Farmville, Mafia Wars, and whatever other stupid application is "COOL" today.  I spend about 2 minutes a day reading the afore mentioned famous quotes by dead people, quite often posted by people whom if it were not for FB I would not know if THEY were dead or not. I spend about 5 minutes of my 24 scrolling through notifications that you reached some level in Petville previously thought unattainable, or maybe you just became the 14th most "hugged" person on your friend list. Sigh... All this reading crap I don't really care about leaves me precious little time to post stuff on FB that YOU won't care about.  And we all know that if I cannot tell you my latest musings on politics or religion, well my day just won't be complete.  Well so why do I do it? Why do you do it?  Well while I was perusing through one of my psychology periodcals I came across the answer.  I am, we are, possibly, kinda, sorta...umm how do I say this...self-centered.  Yup we are narcissists.  Seriously, we are. 

You didn't think you were looking through my old  pics because you cared what I look like today did you?  No, you couldn't care less my son is a star basketball player or my daughter just got back from Spain with some classmates.  You don't even care what I think about politics, or religion, or much of anything else for that matter.  But guess what you do care about?  Yup, most of us care about what WE write and what people think and comment about what we (ourselves) post.  Surprise!  You all are just a bunch of attention craving, low self esteem having narcissists!  Thats right! Accept your reality!  Below are the highlights of the Facebook user study.

Using Facebook is the online equivalent of staring at yourself in the mirror, according to a study.


Those who spent more time updating their profile on the social networking site were more likely to be narcissists, said researchers.

Facebook provides an ideal setting for narcissists to monitor their appearance and how many ‘friends’ they have, the study said, as it allows them to thrive on ‘shallow’ relationships while avoiding genuine warmth and empathy.

People who constantly check Facebook may be lacking in self-esteem, a study found

They also tend to use the site for promoting themselves to friends or people they would like to meet, the study concluded.

Researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh from York University in Canada asked 100 students, 50 male and 50 female, aged between 18 and 25 about their Facebook habits.

They all took psychology tests to measure their levels of narcissism, which the study defined as ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance’.

Those who scored higher on the narcissism test checked their Facebook pages more often each day than those who did not.

There was also a difference between men and women – men generally promoted themselves by written posts on their Facebook page while women tended to carefully select the pictures in their profile.

The findings, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour And Social Networking, also suggested that those with low self-esteem also checked their Facebook pages more regularly than normal.

This may not be altogether surprising as it is widely thought, however contradictory it may appear, that narcissism is linked to a deep-rooted lack of self-esteem.

Now the main problem I have with this study is the age group monitored.  18-25....really?  The only group more insecure than this is probably the 14-18 demographic.  Given the fact that my daughter has over 10,000 texts a month, and over 3,000 is considered a compulsion, well what am I suppose to think of the fact that she posts every giggle, fart or burp?  Am I raising well adjusted children able to cope with the world and its limitless intricacies?  Or am I raising selfish little trolls with narcissistic tendencies?  WTF do I care?  As long as they don't get any facial tattoos, or piercings that conceal their inherited good looks, and don't embarrass me in public, it's all good.

There you have it fellow narcissists.  Our lack of self-esteem is what prompts us to be on FB so much.  Well, for you guys anyways, not me.  I use my FB to keep in touch with close friends and family.  Sometimes even to promote business contacts...but never because of the reasons stated in the study.  Oh by the way have you all listed yourself as a "follower" to my blog?  If not please take the time to do it now.  That way the next time I write one of these you can be alerted immediately as to  its posting. I would hate for any of you to miss my most important thoughts. 

Thanks for listening,

Durastorm