Facebook - the narcissists playground

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and wondered why everyone seems to have such a wonderful life, traveling partying and have the perfect family while your sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself eating junk food? Welcome to the narcissists playground.

Psychology Today (2015) describe narcissists as being ‘characterized by a grandiose self-view, an excessive preoccupation with themselves, and an instrumental use of social relationships’. This makes social media a breeding ground for narcissists because they encourage people to talk about themselves and all the details of their life to get ‘likes’ and comments.

Facebook in particular is becoming more of a popularity contest - the more friends you have the more people will like your status updates. Last time I went through my friends I was able to unfriend alot of people who I no longer have contact with - I don't like to hoard my Facebook friends!

With the advent of smart phones and roaming Internet it has become easier than ever to take a quick snap while out travelling and upload it to social media. As I spoke about in my previous post about my digital detox this also leads people to be less ‘in the moment’ and more focused on what others will think.

Having moved to Spain about 4 months ago I would have thought I would be posting on Facebook more often but I find alot of people on Facebook aren't interested - sometimes I share a few snaps with my close friends and family in messenger instead.

I also think that social media can contribute to depression in some people - they wonder why everyone's else's life is perfect and theirs isn't. Fact - no one's life is perfect and we all have problems but on social media we can portray ourselves however we want. Imagine if people posted about everyday things on facebook - there would be a lot of posts about sick children, sleepless nights, relationship problems and money problems.

I think that social media can be a great platform for keeping in touch with friends and family around the world but I remind myself to take everything with a grain of salt. Nowadays I find it alot more beneficial to pick up the phone and call someone rather than feeling like I'm connected with them because I keep up with their news feed. Facebook in particular does have some really useful groups if you are after information on a particular topic.

Hope you enjoyed and remember to like and upvote if you found this article beneficial.

References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/virtual-you/201503/is-facebook-really-playground-narcissists. (2015)

All photos taken from the free stock website pexels.com