Digital Narcissism And Self Esteem

Comparing ourselves to others is a natural, healthy way to gauge how we are doing in life. However, when we compare our everyday-lives to others only-positive-lives, it becomes unhealthy. As we go on social media, we need to remember to look at everything through a filter because people aren't quite as perfect as they seem. “I later discovered that the classmate who I thought landed a job at NPR was really just an intern. And Payton discovered her friend who landed a killer job after college only did so because her dad had a connection on staff”(Friedlander). I love taking pictures, so consequently I follow a lot of photographers on instagram. There is this one guy who always takes magnificent photos almost everyday and it's hard not to compare yourself to that. Just this last week he shared a photo where he missed this small, but impactful, setting and it ruined his picture with a great sunrise. I think that picture was one of my favorites because it reminded me that he isn't perfect, and in fact has difficulties like I do. Everyone can get in this rut of always comparing yourself to others. While the constant comparisons we are forced to endure through social media aren't a huge deal for some, they can be the pushing or breaking point for someone already struggling with mild depression. Social media is only a part of the now very modernized world we live

A photograph, painting, canvas, or drawing today is not the same as it was a decade ago. Technology has evolved to the point where we can photoshop a person into a picture, enlarge a person’s butt, or even whiten people’s teeth. At what point do those technological advances cross a line? With social media ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Tumblr, do these media sites promote egotistical behavior? In January of 2013, John Paul Titlow discusses some of the disadvantages and advantages that Instagram has in his essay: “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie” that was posted on a website called ReadWrite. Although Instagram was primarily created to simply share pictures, it has evolved to do much more than that. Some businesses use it to advertise, some people use it to share their art, but then there are some people use it to flaunt their own personal lives in the form of pictures. Titlow acknowledges that Instagram is a desirable way to share art and diverse imagery, but additionally acknowledges that it can be a place where one can promote their own self-popularity. He explains that Instagram has become remarkably important in people’s lives to the point that they cannot view life past those Instagram likes (Titlow). Ultimately, Titlow succeeds in emphasizing the issues that Instagram has created by reason of the way he expresses his text, while furthermore expressing who the audience of his essay is, and by making his overall purpose clear.

The biggest influence of personality are childhood experiences and the way in which parents choose to raise their kids. The shift in parenting styles contributes to the growing levels of narcissistic attitudes presented in the youngest generation. Because of the shift in values, the media evolved to highlight vain celebrities instead of focusing on the successes of brilliant, hard-working people. Social media takes away the emotional involvement in relationships and replaces those feelings with shallow gratification that causes people to grow an unhealthy attachment to the social network. Nothing can replace the convenience of social media, but if society changes the way it views online relationships then the focus will shift from having online relationships to improving interpersonal communication. Narcissism is a problem that can be fixed with healthy role-models and a positive, unselfish outlook that starts with how parents treat their children’s successes and

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) offers infinite connections and the ability to express oneself to the world. But are these connections and images of self-based upon fact or fiction? Through selective self-presentation, people often present the “ideal self” instead of the “actual self” in the online environment to achieve the feeling of positive self-esteem. In “The Way We Live Now: I Tweet, Therefore I Am”, Peggy Orenstein writes of how her Twitter posts reflected an idealized version of her life. Two studies support the hypothesis that such editing can have a positive effect on personal self-esteem. “Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” by Amy Gonzales presents a study demonstrating

Most people face self esteem problems at different levels. At some point in life people face this problem without realizing it. In the essay The Trouble with Self-Esteem written by Lauren Slater starts of by demonstrating a test. Self esteem test that determines whether you have a high self-esteem or low self-esteem. The question to be answered however is; what is the value and meaning of self-esteem? The trouble with self-esteem is that not everyone approaches it properly, taking a test or doing research based of a certain group of people is not the way to do so.

Social media's main purpose is to connect with others and socialize in a spectacular, and modern way online. According to ¨the upside of selfies: social media isn't all bad for kids” by Kelly Wallace (CNN), Wallace interviews Eileen Masio, a mother of two in New York that are big users of instagram; social media. In the interview Masio states,” ‘i think as damaging as social media could be, it can… help to build self confidence,too,’ ” Masio also reveals an example of how social media builds self confidence,” ‘when they post selfies, all the comments I usually see are ‘Your beautiful,’ ‘You’re so pretty,’ oh my god gorgeous,’” evidently, this shows that social media doesn't just help connect people, but can also help build confidence to those who might need some, or think that they are less than what they are.

Self-esteem is a highly valued attribute of human personality. However, it is less mercurial than the ups and downs associated with everyday mood changes. Due to the increasing population finding themselves within various cycles of diminishing self-worth, high self-esteem has become less common today than in the past. These cycles, the most prominent being the cycles of media, perfection, and abuse, continuously revolve around themselves and lower the esteem of those within them. The root of low self-esteem lies within reversible social and psychological cycles of cause and effect, and only with the breaking of these cycles can self-esteem be improved.

Instagram has been introduced to the community around 6 years ago as a social networking app for sharing photos and videos from smartphones. Along with the growth of technology and the Internet, Instagram is now gradually become more and more popular in many social media websites, especially for teenagers. However, many types of research and studies state that Instagram may cause several negative effects on the individuals who use them usually. As the report “Instagram Is Killing Teen Girls’ Self-Esteem”, the author states that almost every girl teenager feels isolated and unsatisfied with what they have. Indeed, they often feel envious and have inferiorities when they see someone have a beautiful dress or living a luxury life (Kohli). Moreover, Instagram users often compare their lives to other people on social media and try to build the perfect platform on social media. If teenagers overuse Instagram for most of their time, it may lower the self-esteem of teenagers, damage the body image, lifestyles, or even affect the mental systems in life satisfaction.

Can the excessive use of social media, specifically Facebook, be seen as a form of narcissism? Editors Edwin E. Gantt and Brent Slife of Brigham Young University present two opposing opinions to explore this topic in their presentation, “Is Excessive Use of Social Media a Form of Narcissism?”. Could the oversharing, “duck face”, and look at me virtual world be a way to reach out to each other or just a shallow attempt at self-validation? Each article expresses the author’s views, and research on the subject.

The effects that social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have on their viewers are widely varied, but in my opinion the most impactful message that viewers take away from their social media use is the proposed definition of what is “beautiful”. People are highly moldable beings who soak up what they are surrounded by, so it makes sense that a message implying that they can “improve” themselves by losing weight, applying makeup, or focusing more on what they wear would have such a direct impact on the way they view themselves as a whole. Studies have shown that frequent users of social

In recent years, social media has flown to increasing popularity. People spend hours scrolling their Instagram feed “touching up” their pictures to put forth their best looks, updating their Snapchat stories and sending messages with funny faces to friends, trying to stay connected to the world. Social media stars have found a new array of followers and idolizers. All over the world, people inspire to be like that one person with 3,000 followers or 8 million comparing their dazzling looks to their own dull appearance. Although media can help connect the world, it also forces people to compare themselves to others; Social media is a toxic playing field for young women because these comparisons bring low self-esteem and a rise in mental illness.

In order to understand the effect that social media has on self-esteem, we need to understand the construct of self-esteem. According to Coopersmith’s definition, self-esteem is “the evaluation which the individual makes and customarily maintains with regard to himself: it expresses an attitude of approval and indicates the extent to which an individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful and worthy. In short, self-esteem is a personal judgment of the worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes the individual holds towards himself.” (p. 4–5) To put it more simply, self-esteem is the attitude that people have toward their own values.

Recent research has documented how technology, and social networking sites (SNS; e.g., Facebook, Instagram) in particular, have given rise to a growing obsession with impression management and self-presentation online. Whether it’s searching for the perfect Instagram photo filter or carefully crafting a humblebrag Facebook status about a recent publication, users frequently engage in selective self-presentation strategies to portray an ‘ideal self’ through social media (Chou & Edge, 2012; Manago, Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). In turn, we seek out social approval and positive feedback in the form of comments and likes.

Instagram impacts user’s self-image and self-esteem. Young girls and boys are being shot down by users not liking their image, commenting, or even sharing one’s post. Americans check Instagram multiple times a day, because they are looking to see how many likes, or comments they get. If these users’ do not get a certain amount of likes that exceeds their expectations they think, “I’m I pretty enough?”, “is the picture taken well?”, or “does anyone like me?”. This breaks down young Americans emotional health and well-being. Americans today that use Instagram are commenting publicly about how their self-esteem was jeopardized because of this form of social media. For example, Michelle Linker states “I feel anxiety over how many likes I get after I post a picture. If I get two likes, I feel like, what’s wrong with me? Some people judge Instagram by deleting photos that don’t get enough likes” (Gajanan). This quote is an example of how Instagram effects user’s emotionally. Some users even check their “like” count multiple times a day once uploaded for

Social Media has a massive impact on a person’s self-presentation because of the different trends where everyone wants to fit in with society’s expectations of what we should look like. Celebrities are made to be our role models, however, magazines photoshop and make them more toned and a lot slimmer, which makes young people want to make their bodies more like theirs. This then leads to the modern generation becoming self-conscious because they feel they have to fit in and achieve an ideal self that fits in with those around them.