Imagine 100+ people coming up to you every day and complimenting you. It would probably be overwhelming right? Well, this is similar to what many experience on social media every day through likes, shares, and followers. The more followers, likes, and shares you have, the more you feel uplifted and infatuated with yourself. It’s this virtual system of compliments that leads to narcissism in those that use it, which further leads to a generation of people who base their self-worth off of others' opinions. 

Many other people, including myself, have fallen victim to this mentality and it’s miserable. You become overly obsessed with yourself. I was always trying to find the right angle and good lighting so I looked the best, and I can post on social media and get those virtual ego boosters. Then, when a post does not do so well I either ended up beating myself up about it or I blamed everyone else for not liking the photo of me. Either way, it leads to unhappiness. Those who are narcissistic due to social media usually lean toward the blaming others approach. 

Narcissism is defined as “inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love, vanity” by Dictionary.com. The inordinate obsession with yourself  is dangerous not only for you but for your relationships with others. Sonia Sadha, in her article titled “Social Media Fuels Narcissists’ Worst Desires, Making Reasoned Debate Near Impossible” explores how these narcissistic products of social media interact with others. Sadha notes that social media is the perfect place for these people to grow this negative obsession. This is why those who have narcissistic tendencies are more likely to get addicted to social media. Sadha then shares that narcissists either show more traits of entitlement or seek excessive validation from others and themselves. Whichever side of online narcissism they land on, they are more likely to take part in cyberbullying (I did not take part in the cyberbullying). 

Once again, proving bullies are just people who are too full of themselves or need something to make them feel better about themselves. 

Learning to love yourself is crucial to maintaining a healthy and caring self-image. If you don’t love yourself, you can easily be molded by your surroundings to be whatever version of yourself whether that be bad or good. You may think being molded into a different person may fix this issue. However, if your self image and real self do not match and are drastically different, it can lead to difficulties. Phil Reed, in her article “Is Collective Narcissism an Inevitability on Social Media?” lists the traits these people usually have before social media takes effect. Reed states that these people tend to accept themselves less, are highly critical of themselves, and are very reactive to their environment. Due to their highly reactive nature to external events and low self-esteem social media is bound to bring about narcissistic behavior in these individuals. 

If you are like me, the way to beat this narcissistic product is to delete all social media. Without social media I have become more happy, less stressed and less self absorbed. It gives you a chance to just see yourself and learn to validate yourself in a healthy way. A less extreme solution is to put a cap on your social media use. Our society is being taken over by social media, and it’s time people remember the world that is not 1080p. Social media is a useful tool in our present world for communication, knowledge, and relationships, but how useful is something if it is not used in moderation.