1.0 Introduction of the Book and Background Information
Essentially, USA has become an increasingly capitalistic nation that concentrates on individuality rather than a community-based orientation. This condition is embedded in almost all aspects of the Americans’ lives that include social, environmental, and political activities. The alarming self-centeredness has raised a lot of concern from scientists, socialists, psychologists, and scholars in general. As a result, it has been investigated and researched widely in order to come up with ways of combating and reducing its levels in the social realms. In this line of thought, Twenge and Campbell (2009) addressed self- centeredness and self-absorption in their book entitled as “The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement”. The authors suggested that a narcissist as somebody that is basically overconfident of his/her knowledge, capabilities, and bodily abilities among others. The two revealed that USA has been affected by narcissism in the contemporary society. The authors stated;
"Every culture is shaped by its fundamental core beliefs, and in America today, there are few values more fiercely held than the importance of self-admiration" (Twenge and Campbell 2009).
They indicate that their book targeted those whose narcissistic conditions recorded a high value on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. In the same regard, their work was not subject to those people with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Drawing from this work, this paper seeks to address the impact of social networks in the society in line with the facets of narcissism as identified by the two authors. Additionally, the paper will discuss the future developments which may befall the narcissistic people in the USA and the world in general. Lastly, the paper will present a deep analysis of the various recommendations which have been identified for the purpose of reducing narcissism.
2.0 Diagnosis
The contemporary social networks, especially the social media, are perfect examples of narcissist tendencies and obsession. In essence, the social media is found to advance individuality rather than community and social orientations in the society. People are using social media mainly to create a better social standing rather than to improve others. Since the social media and the internet allow people to post on real time, people are able to update every small achievement they make. In fact, most times, people on social media provide wrong information about themselves in order to make a false and good impression. For example, most people provide residential locations which are associated with the rich people. This creates an impression that they are well-to-do or rich to afford the lifestyle associated with such places. In the same light, most people provide false and exaggerated information about their employment status. In the profiles, they claim to be CEOs of non-existing companies and self-employment. A close look into this shows that the social media has been dominated by the narcissistic tendencies outlined and discussed by Twenge and Campbell (2009). Importantly, the young generation promotes themselves partly due to the prevalent deficiency of self esteem. In fact, Mehdizadeh revealed that people who have low self-esteem and more narcissistic traits tend to indulge in online activities more than those people who have a social tendency and high self-esteem (360). Additionally, Kapidzic suggested that narcissism can be used to determine the motivation behind the profile pictures chosen by a Facebook subscriber (17). Besides, it is evident that the social networks are constructed in such a way that helps people to show off their personal achievements (Utz 40). This is an implication that the effects of contemporary social networks are consistent with various facet presented by Twenge and Campbell. As such, the following symptoms have been explored in relation to the aforementioned facets of narcissism.
3.0 Cause from the Book on Celebrities and Internet
The internet and media have been instigating the spirit of self-admiration and self preservation (Joiner 54). In this regard, the media has popularized celebrities around world as a representation of success. This continuous media coverage of celebrities and award-giving events has shifted focus from community based success to fame. Also, internet tends to focus on the celebrities because they are famous in the social realms. In Facebook, the celebrities have many likes as compared to ordinary people who might be equally competent. As such, they become more influential in the internet and dominate the social realms. They use this fame and domination to advance their own personal beliefs, fashion, and way of life. In addition to this, it has been evident that these celebrities are keen to advance tendencies of self-preservation. When they are criticized for misconduct, they use their social media fame and domination to counter censorship. For example, the entire world watched and heard the exchanges between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao during and after the world boxing championship. Recently, Flyod and Mundine have been engaging in heated exchanges over the internet. In Mundine’s letter, he praises his accomplishments that he has made in rugby and boxing. He defends the fact that he quitted rugby after due to the existence of racism in his country. In his reply, Floyd also showed critical tendencies of self-centredness and self-admiration. Besides, the political field on the country is full of self-admiration as well as self-preservation. In most cases, politics are more oriented to personalities rather than issues. Politicians have to keep talking about their accomplishments in order to woe voters. The media comes in and covers these celebrities widely such that people absorb self-centredness as a way of life. This tendency brings confirms the claim made by Twenge and Campbell when they suggested that self-admiration is fiercely held more than any other values.
4.0 Symptoms
When it comes to the question of how social networks promote social-admiration and self-promotion, there are various symptoms manifested in social networks. Most of these symptoms map to the facets identified by Twenge and Campbell. The following are some visibly clear manifestation of how self-admiration and self-promotion has taken root.
4.1 Symptom 1: Young People Obsession to Consumerism
In the contemporary society, social media has increased the level of consumerism among the young people. In this case, the young generation is spending a lot of money on trendy clothes in order to take photos, post of their social media profiles, and increase their social standing (Richards, Hamilton, and Allender 501). As a result, the young generation buys clothes despite the fact that the existing ones are not worn out. In principle, the question is whether the already existing clothes are out of fashion or trendy. It is therefore evident that clothes are no longer considered as basic needs, but rather the components of fashion. People are willing to buy a new wear to expand their wardrobe and keep it fashionable.
In line with the facets identified by Twenge and Campbell, this behavior is a manifestation of materialism. It implies that people concentrate on outward impressions and material gains rather than improvement of character and cultivation of values (Fitzmaurice and Comegys 291). This is one of the reasons as to why money has become a mandatory necessity to live and interact with people effectively. In turn, this tendency will lead to the degradation of morality and social bonds. In fact, morality is already at stake because the modern fashion is full of nudity. It relies on using sexual provocation and exposure to increase admiration and social status. Besides, spending a lot of money for clothes a fashion will increase individual and national expenditure. Of course, the cost of living will increase drastically over the next decade because social media presence is slowly becoming mandatory in the contemporary society especially among the young people (Kamal, Chu and Pedram 35). As such, those who are not on social media are considered to be backward in terms to technology. This is an implication that people who have not subscribed to the social networks are forced to join in order to appear updated. In that regard, therefore, the rapid subscription to social will steer consumerism and increase the expenditure of the country.
4.2 Symptom 2: Addiction to Social Network and Reading Status
In this age of social networks, young people are addicted to online activity especially when it comes to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others. A subscriber hardly spends a day without logging into their social media platforms. In extreme addictive conditions, some subscribers access their accounts after every few hours. Well, some business-people do this because these platforms present an opportunity to market products and make money. However, it is a very tricky and tempting undertaking owing to the accumulating need to go online every now and then. As such, even the business-oriented people find themselves embroiled in a similar addiction for social media and general browsing. In essence, this has negatively affected the manner in which people manage time in the contemporary society (Huang, SuHua and Capps 56). This is based on the fact that social media and general browsing reaches addictive levels where the user cannot live without browsing and exploring online. In fact, one of the most effective ways of time management is using internet only when you need. This implies that browsing lead to poor time management since the use keeps on finding new information and links to explore. Essentially, this symptom is linked with vanity as one of the facets of narcissism identified by Twenge and Campbell. Since online addiction leads to mismanagement of time, most people will have insufficient time to spend form things such as education (Waters 53). Importantly, addiction to social networks is one of the causes of antisocial behaviors among the youth. In fact, most relationships are being affected by the tendency of concentrating on their phones or computers, therefore, leading to poor interpersonal experience. Besides, this increased online activity is one of the reasons as to why physical interaction has reduced over years. People can interact over the internet every now and then. As such, they do not find the importance of meeting physically to hold talks over the issues in question.
4.3 Symptom 3: Young People Turn to Posting Offensive and Insulting Messages
Social networks have increased the level of violent exchanges between politicians, business competitors, and sport-based rivals. In many of the developing countries, where politics are defined along tribal and ethnic lines, supporters turn on social media to criticize and pour insults to their rivals. They post offensive messages toward their rival candidates in order to disparage their names and credibility. Even in developed countries such as USA and Britain, the social media insults are equally existent and prevalent. For example, just the other day, a mayor posted an offensive message towards President Barrack Obama. He termed Mr. Obama as a monkey and Mrs. Obama as a gorilla-faced woman. This was a very offensive and pathetic message from a person who actually holds office. In the Briton last election which was concluded some few months ago Ed Milibard and David Cameron made heating exchanges on social media. They attacked both their rivals and their supporters using offensive and sarcastic posts. This tendency can be related to the facet which Twenge and Campbell identified as antisocial behaviour of narcissism where people can direct violence and manipulation to others. Indeed, self-centeredness makes the offenders inconsiderate of other people’s feelings. As a result, they manipulate them based on power and offend haphazardly. In case, this is not controlled by the administrators of these social networks, the world might face an era of aggression and social intolerance. In fact, this situation is already prevalent among the religious extremists such as ISIS and Al-Qaida. These terrorist groups use social media to advance radical ideologies and spark violence among religions. Besides, these insulting tendencies lead to lack of respect and empathy among people in the society.
4.4 Symptom 4: The Young Generation Post Exaggerated Positive Status and Self-Images
In the world of social networks, the young generation is known for posting very good status and pictures of themselves. Everyone seeks to talk high of their relationships, achievements, and capabilities even when they do not exist. In the introductory part of this paper, it was discovered that some of them go to the extent of providing false personal information in order to create a high social impression. In the corporate world, most business owners start campaigns to expose their success in business as opposed to promoting the business. As such, you find CEOs popularizing the position the company rather than the services and products offered by the company. This symptom can be related with the facet of fantasy principle. In this facet, the individuals tend to have an inflated and exaggerated view of their persona. Instead of working and letting other people to proclaim the success, the today’s generation go to the social media and become self-proclaimed heroes who have little or no substantial points of success. The self-proclamation is essentially destructive because it makes such persons to disregard their weaknesses and flaws. Additionally, the tendency might lead to poor performance in corporate and companies at large. In principal, all players want to be appreciated for the work they do. If the managers and CEOs do not acknowledge them in the public, the teamwork might weaken.
Symptom 8: Those who are not on Social Networks are intimidated for Backwardness
5.0 Recommendations
There are various ways in which narcissism can be reduces in cases where a person record a high level of NPI measure. First, one should learn to avoid the four horsemen tendency which is deemed to be a characteristic of self tendency. The four horsemen tendency incorporates the urge to criticize, stonewalling, the pursuit to defend ones persona, treating people with contempt. They are the four traits and behaviours that increase the narcissistic levels of individuals. Criticism creates a subconscious impression that the critic is better than those he or she is criticizing. Continuous behaviour of criticism, therefore, fuels the self-proclamation and self-admiration on the part of the criticizer. S/he always seeks to show how his or her opinions are better than those of anyone else in the niche. Defensiveness also contributes to the narcissistic behaviour among those who indulge in it. When one is criticized over a mistake, self-defence prevents that person to understand his or her faults and correct them in order to improve performance. This implies that people who wish to improve and learn new skills must be less defensive. Treating people with contempt also increases the level of narcissism among people in the social arena. Somebody who does not respect others tends to think that those people are not worth his or her respect. As a result, the person treats them with contempt on the basis that he or she is better and superior. As such, one has to reject the contemptuous behaviour in order to recover from narcissism. Stonewalling, on the other hand, is the refusal to collaborate or make communication in a situation where cooperation is needed. In the contemporary world, countries have suffered critical diplomatic issues due to stonewalling. The diplomatic discussions are derailed by the parties’ refusal to honour sermons and consensuses.
The second trait which the narcissist should embrace and cultivate in order to defeat self-promotion is learning how to listen. Essentially, narcissists are pathetically deficient of listening skills. When they are conversing with colleagues, they tend to over talk and disregard the opinions of others. This is, of course, informed by self-admiration and the pursuit to promote their persona. As a result, the most effective and basic way of combating narcissism is restricting speech and listening others more. In this way, the narcissist learns to consider and understand other people’s opinions. Also, it gives them an opportunity to get information about the world of other people. In most case, narcissists are fond of denying others a chance to have their opinions heard. Whether the domination is informed by pride or otherwise, listening can serve as a suitable solution to the problem. In addition to these two recommendations, the narcissists should also seek to change their mentality and the general perception of life. In particular, they should take life and their principles less seriously. The biggest problem with these types of people is that they take their life too rigidly. Everything starts and ends with what they like, what they believe, and who they are. As such, nothing more matters to them because they stick so much on their goals and accomplishment. They want people to view them as more successful, capable, and superior people in comparison with others. In their pursuit to create this impression, they assume a false serious and ambitious character which does not match their capabilities or means of life. Additionally, they fail to concentrate on issues that matter and the real success. This situation leads to lack of happiness, satisfaction, and real accomplishment. As a result, it is important that narcissist try to change their perspective about life. Although they are ambitious about success, they should also live an all-round and balanced life to ensure they enjoy to the fullest. This mindset goes a long way in reducing the pursuit for fame, recognition and dominance among other self-oriented traits.
6.0 Conclusion
It cannot be disputed that the self-proclamation and self-admiration spirits are prevalent among people in the contemporary society. The United States of America suffers this epidemic vastly due to the increased focus on individuality rather than community-based approach to issues. Importantly, social networks have accelerated the self-admiration which is the main component of narcissistic epidemic. Essentially, Twenge and Campbell (2009) focused on how the narcissism and the age of entitlement have dominated. The authors developed various facets of narcissism, including fish traps, vanity, and entitlement among others.
It is evident that there are symptoms manifested in the use of social media which are consistent with these facets described by Twenge and Campbell. First, in the current society, youths use a lot of money to buy luxurious clothes in order to be trendy and fashionable. This symptom shows that the society is materialistic in accordance to the facets discussed by Twenge and Campbell. Second, the young people have become addicted to reading news feed and statuses on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others. This is unlike the previous generations that did not have access to such technologies and social media through the internet. Twenge and Campbell states;
“Previous generations were not given the same tools as us. We cannot be blamed for growing up in a time when outlets (MySpace, Facebook, blogging) were created specifically for us to talk about ourselves” (Twenge and Campbell, 2009). Lastly, this generation tend to insult people on social networks and post over-positive messages about themselves in the social media. These are some of the critical symptoms showing how the society has become narcissistic and oriented to individuality.
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