Is social media turning people into narcissists?

There has been a massive increase in the use of social media – from being almost non-existent 15 years ago, it now takes up a major part of our lives and our children’s lives. Facebook, for example, boasts over one billion users per day. This explosion of social media has led to many cultural, social, and economic changes.

Narcissism – having an inflated view of oneself – has become a major topic of research interest, and also of concern. Is social media becoming an outlet for narcissistic individuals to self-promote? And is social media turning us and our children into narcissists?

Seeking attention   

Some use their social media accounts as platforms for self-promotion - places to seek attention and admiration. Others take up an oversized amount of space in social media feeds.

These “friends” bragging about their amazing lives – replete with pictures and hashtags – come across as at least a bit narcissistic.

Even the names and taglines of many social media sites seemed to reflect this narcissistic, or at least individualistic, bent. Youtube: “broadcast yourself”. Twitter: “what are you doing?”; and “iPod”, “iPad” and “iPhone”. Time magazine named “You” the person of the year in 2006, amd even included a mirror and computer on the cover. Facebook was named after the books some schools publish with everyone’s name and face. And LinkedIn was designed for business networking (the “links”).

This led to culture becoming considerably more self-focused.

Hardware designers made cameras that took pictures of their owners, and the selfie took over. Selfie was named word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013. (The first use of the word “selfie” was actually by a drunk Aussie in 2002 who took a picture of his own bloodied lip after a fall to show his friends.)

Today we have 100 million people on social media sites like SnapChat taking selfies, running them through filters, and sending them to friends. Researchers follow these trends as best they can, but they are always about two years behind.

Narcissists are more self-promoting    

A 2008 study on narcissism and Facebook found evidence that more narcissistic individuals were more self-promoting on Facebook and had more “friends”.

This finding is consistent with what many people expect – narcissistic individuals do well in an environment where there are shallow relationships and opportunities to self-promote.

It does not mean that Facebook is only for narcissism – social media is a tool that can be used to form and maintain close relationships, learn new things, or just provide entertainment. But it is also an attractive place for narcissists to do their thing.

This finding has held up across many other studies across the world, with narcissism predicting self-promotion and number of connections.

More recently, researchers have tackled the question of narcissism and selfies.

Several papers have found that narcissistic individuals take more selfies, spend more time on social media, feel good about it, and are a little more self-promoting (for example, show more body shots and more solo selfies).

They also tend to be well integrated into these social media networks, having large numbers of friends and followers. In general, men are a little more narcissistic than women, but we find that narcissistic men and woman use social media in similar ways.

Does social media increase narcissism?    

The more challenging question is if the arrow points the other way. That is, does social media use cause narcissism?

This has proven a much more challenging question to answer. When we first studied changes innarcissism over time, it looked like narcissism and social media use might be accelerating together.

But this data is correlational and doesn’t tell us about individuals’ social media use; therefore it doesn’t really say much about how social media will influence users.

Since then, researchers have tried a couple different strategies.

One is experimental. For example, you take two random groups, have one group work on their social media page and the other on an unrelated computer task. Then you measure differences in narcissism to see if the social media group is higher. Results from this approach have been mixedand inconclusive.

Another approach is longitudinal, measuring narcissism and social media use over time and seeing if they are mutually reinforcing; that is, whether narcissism predicts increased social media use and whether that, in turn, predicts increasing narcissism. At least one study shows this pattern.

It might also be the case that social media inflates the narcissism of those already predisposed, but has no effect on others.

So it is plausible that social media use increases narcissism. But there is also longitudinalresearch suggesting that social media use can make children more empathetic. For example, children who spend time engaged with their friends on social media might become more concerned with the up and downs in their friends’ lives.

Thus, given the vagaries of social science and the challenge of figuring out how to answer the causal question (without randomly assigning 300 children to avoid social media until they turn 18 and have their narcissism measured), I think it is best to wait for more data.

Successful social media creators    

Narcissists are successful social media creators. They build bridges to others and generate content. They may be annoying at times and have a small risk for Internet addiction, but the role that narcissistic individuals play in building social media networks may have helped create the massive social media we have today.

5 ways social media can help you travel

1. Go online for advance scouting

Among the networks that use geo-targeting, Instagram is particularly suited to checking out locations, in real-time, with a simple search or by clicking on hashtags.

“Whether it’s taking a peek at the food served at a restaurant or seeing how crowded an attraction might be, it’s kind of a way to visually snoop before deciding to go,” said Rachelle Lucas, travel and food expert atthetravelbite.com.

Pinterest, another photo-driven app, is great for those seeking inspiration about where to go and what to see.

“It stands out against other platforms as it is relevant and useful for each different stage of your trip, from the planning stages in the beginning to sharing photographs after you’ve returned at the end,” said Megan Jerrard, who blogs about her travels at mappingmegan.com.

(Related: The best tricks to save on airfare)

2. Move past the friend zone

Asking your Facebook friends for travel suggestions can lead to some useful information, but if you don’t mind talking to strangers, you may find a wider array of options.

“Facebook is friends; Twitter is the world,” said J.D. Andrews, a travel photographer and videographer who runs earthxplorer.com.

Of course, not all of us have Mr. Andrews’s reach on Twitter (182,000 followers at the moment). For us mere mortals, hashtags can again come to the rescue: Seek out users that specialize in the places you are researching, using search and hashtags.

“I’ll usually get a few great recommendations either from locals that are excited to highlight something they love about their city or a traveler that had a great experience and wants to share it,” Ms. Lucas said.

And if you are willing to expand your Facebook circle, that can come in handy, too, especially if you ask friends who might have connections overseas.

“There may not be anyone within our Facebook circles traveling to Madrid on our given dates, but one of our friends tags their friends, their friends share the post with theirs, and the world becomes a lot smaller quite quickly,” Ms. Jerrard said.

3. Trust the locals

Need dinner plans? If you’re willing to take some risks in the form of advice from strangers, you could end up with a memorable experience. Just make sure to be specific in your requests.

“I’ll often ask my followers ‘What can’t I miss in Reykjavik?’ or ‘Where can I find the best tapas in Barcelona?’ It almost always unearths something interesting I wouldn’t have otherwise found,” said Stephanie Yoder, who blogs at twenty-somethingtravel.com.

4. Service with an emoji

Many airlines have been bolstering their customer service departments with social media specialists to respond to questions and complaints on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Posting about a travel problem may now be the fastest way to get it resolved.

“Someone from the KLM Twitter team rebooked a flight for me that was delayed while I was still onboard the plane,” Mr. Andrews said. Not all stories will have endings that happy, of course, but it can’t hurt to try.

5. Beyond Twitter and Facebook

Don’t discount apps and networks that specialize in a particular area of interest or help you organize your trip.

If you’re heading to wine country, for example, Ms. Lucas suggests Vivino,which relies on its 19 million users for wine recommendations. “All you have to do is take a picture of a wine label and it automatically looks up the wine and gives you tasting notes about it,” she said.

Snapchat now has more daily users than Twitter, and while it may be more difficult to target specific interests or locations (you can’t search for snaps as you can tweets, and they expire after 24 hours), there are travel-focused accounts worth following for general inspiration.

The best ones are those of full-time travelers like @anna-everywhere and@ExpertVagabond — perspectives from around the world presented in an appealingly immersive way.

There are also apps that can help you plan your entire itinerary. TripIt, for example, allows you to share your travel details with a chosen circle. “It’s a great way to see where my friends and colleagues are traveling and to arrange meetups when it’s serendipitous,” Ms. Yoder said.

Trust in Social Media Security Is at an All-Time Low (Infographic)

In our ongoing coverage of security topics for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it’s important to recognize that all parties play an important role in security infrastructure. Businesses need to provide adequate solutions and people need to utilize the solutions provided. Unfortunately, according to a recent infographic, user confidence in the security infrastructures provided by social sites is at an all time low.

This year, 96 percent of the 1,017 American adults surveyed said they didn’t have a lot of trust in the ability of social networks to protect their privacy–three percentage points worse than a similar survey conducted in 2014. Millennials are significantly less trusting than they were two years ago, and those aged 65 and older are the least trusting group of all.

However, with increases in daily active users of up to 5 percent on almost every major social site, social media use is up overall. Even niche services like Vine and Tinder gained 8 percent and 6 percent more daily users, respectively. Tumblr was the only site to experience a decrease in active users.

Interestingly, while overall trust was down and a majority of users are still worried about specific kinds of security breach, worries about individual attack vectors are stable or decreasing. For example, 80 percent reported concern about downloading viruses or malware, the same percentage as 2014.

Declining trust in security is not a new trend. There seems to be a disconnect wherein companies aren’t providing clear security protocols and users aren’t taking advantage of the tools to protect themselves. Clearer communication of the benefits of security tools could go a long way to solving both problems.

View the infographic below–from Craig Newmark, Rad Campaign and Lincoln Park Strategies–for more details.

Canadians want more done to curb abuse on social media

A new poll indicates significant splits in gender and age when it comes to where Canadians draw the line at offensive behaviour.

Heavy social media users tend to be less shocked by online abuse. So do younger users and younger men.

Tech companies are under growing pressure to tackle online bullying.

In May, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey told the BBC that addressing abuse on the platform was a priority.

A new survey by the Angus Reid Institute looks into Canadian attitudes towards social media misbehaviour.

It found that one in four Canadians reported being subjected to behaviour ranging from the mean to the extreme - from unwelcome comments to violent threats and sexual harassment.

Among younger, heavy social media users, 50% reported being harassed. Almost 60% of LGBT users said they had experienced some form of online abuse.

That left many respondents calling on the companies to do more to curb abusive or bullying behaviour, including 49% who said they wanted to see the platforms proactively seek out and remove offensive material.

"Canadians do seem to have an expectations of social media companies they're not feeling is being met," said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute, a Canadian not-for-profit research and polling organisation.

But she also noted there was a "diversity of views" on just how far social media companies should go to police content - and just what was considered acceptable.

The Institute showed respondents five examples of online interactions, ranging from an angry tweet directed towards a journalist to a racist tweet sent to Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones.

Respondents who had been personally harassed online had a higher bar for what they found unacceptable compared to other users.

"People who do say, 'Yes, it's happened to me' are more likely to also say 'this is okay,'" said Ms Kurl.

"There is almost a sense [that] exposure can numb shock or outrage, a sense of inappropriateness."

Despite men reporting being targeted just as often as women, young Canadian men were most likely to take a laissez-faire approach to online harrassment.

"There are some stark differences, no doubt about it," said Ms Kurl.

"You see a pretty big difference on age, full stop. And then when you look at what younger men think is OK versus what younger women think is OK, again there's some big differences. Both age and gender are drivers."

Why doesn't anyone want to buy Twitter? As the social network's suitors vanish, marketers have their say

The rumour mill has been in overdrive for the best part of a month about who was going to swoop in and take over the platform with Google, Disney and even News Corp touted as interested parties. But now as the dust settles, sources say that Twitter chief Jack Dorsey is now keen to turn his attention to developing a strategy that will offset the brand's well-documented struggle with slumping user growth.

Fresh reports have suggested that Salesforce chief Marc Benioff ruled out a bid on the platform due to concerns around its problem with online abuse and trolling. While its not something Salesforce has publicly commented on, it’s an issue that hasn’t gone unnoticed by commentators.

Despite the perceived negatives, however, it’s clear that Twiter isn’t flogging a dead horse (or bird). The company has sharpened its focus on the real-time element of the site of late, positioning itself as a news sharing outlet and inking a slew of revenue-boosting live-streaming deals to boot.

Twitter is scheduled to reveal its most recent quarterly earnings update on 27 October, and will likely address the matter of acquisition, or its alternatives, then but in the meantime The Drum caught up with some marketers to hear their thoughts on why no-one is snapping up the social network.