Social networking and narcissism

peter_parker_1
Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:54:11 +0000

I don’t think it’s narcissism.

People like facebook or are drawn to it because the page is completely under your control so you can show the world how cool you are (by detagging any photos you deem ‘uncool’) and score some points on the social hierarchy. In other words it’s more external than internal.

The second reason is that it is one of the most casual/ least committal forms of communication.

Whatever you believe, I believe a big reason why people text over calling is because it’s a lot smaller of an investment/ less of a committal. If you call someone, not only do you have to have a conversation, but if you’re trying to make plans/ figure out what people are doing for the night, you pretty much have to arrange something right there or figure out if they are coming along, etc. Hell, if you send someone a short text, you don’t even have to respond to it, or you won’t be put on the spot, it’s obviously a different dynamic.

Facebook is even less personal/ less of an investment than texting. You don’t need the persons number, and it’s more impersonal to post on someone’s wall than send them a text. You won’t be invading anyone’s space or whatever.

Crazy, I know. People just to pick up the phone sometimes and have more face-to-face interaction.