The Habits That Make You A Social Media Narcissist

It is very hard for us to stay away from social media today. Everyone with an Internet access has an account on at least one of the popular social networking sites. But why are these sites so popular? It is because social media now offers us ways to connect and have fun like it never did before. However, recent surveys suggest that people turn into  narcissists  when they are too much into social media activities. If you are a regular into these sites and own a keen eye, I am sure you did not fail to notice it too.

Who is a  Narcissist ?

Before we move forward with the topic, I need to explain who a  narcissist  is (especially for those of you who already are  narcissists  but do not know it yet). A  narcissist  has a disorder, where he always gets preoccupied with himself. Simply put,  narcissists  get so much pleasure from admiring their physical or intellectual attributes that they fall victim to excessive arrogant pride.

Habits that make you a Social Media  Narcissist 

The basic function of social media is “connecting people“. From locating friends to finding potential buyers, social media is the most effective medium. If we take the recent trends into account, however, most of us tend to devote more time on these sites than on any other activity. And this is hampering our psyche, and turning us into ‘social media  narcissists ‘.

A ‘social media  narcissist ‘ acts or behaves in certain unique ways. What are these unique behavioral traits? Let us have a look at some of the habits:

#1. Constantly Updating your Profile Picture

Recent researches show that we normally choose profile pictures that have the greatest chances of gaining attention. In short, we ignore the pictures where we are looking bad and pick the ones that will get the most “likes” and “+1s” from our friends.

#2. Obsessively Checking your Accounts

If you are into the habit of refreshing your social accounts more than your work email, you are definitely turning into a  narcissist . And I am not talking about a dozen of times; but 70 to 100 times per day. You are doing this so that you don’t miss out a single comment someone leaves for you.

#3. Updating your Status Messages too often

More than 30% of all Facebook status updates are of no particular interest or importance. People who share these updates do it only to engage in superficial, self-promoting behaviors. So next time when you feel like posting an update about what you had for dinner, you should just log out immediately.

#4. Telling everyone how Amazing/Disgusting your Life is

Whether they live an amazing or a disgusting life, social media  narcissists  cannot stop from letting their friends and followers know all about it. They shamelessly brag about their lives, and want lots of appreciation/sympathy based on their current state of mind.

#5. Trying to become Over-friendly

Studies show that people with a higher friend-count look at their online friends more like an audience. They do not even know more than half of them. However, they keep them on their friend lists just to get the attention. This is why social media  narcissists  do not think twice before accepting random friend requests.

Conclusion

Is narcissism an inevitable reaction to our social culture? If yes, it is important for us to take a few steps back. We need to avoid ourselves from becoming puppets. As these sites got primarily created to help us “connect” with each other, we need to restrict ourselves from becoming  narcissists  and use them the right way.