Narcissismblog

There was an interesting article on Gen Y and Twitter use on CNET by Sharon Vaknin. The author argues that Twitter use is relatively low because it limits self-branding. This is in contrast to Facebook, which includes status updates plus all the photos, descriptions and links that go with it. I don’t know the recent data on the use of different social media by age group, but this seems to be a very interesting area for research.

Twitter’s microblogging platform is what many Gen Y’s may describe as “like Facebook, but just the status update.” What is the point of that? We like to consolidate, so Nemeth explains that he doesn’t “want to join another community, just tell people what (he’s) doing.” We have everything we need on Facebook.

Based on Twenge’s theory, a good explanation of my generation’s lag in joining the Twitter mania is that there isn’t an obvious way to achieve a self-brand on Twitter.  . . . Participating on Twitter requires a fan base that knows why you are unique, special, and deserve attention. Fan base aside, the Web site’s interface paves a short path for cyberstalking–there is nothing to find past a user’s status. . . . For example, Sally went to a great party last weekend, but where are the photos? Who went with her? These features, which Gen Y’s value so much, are missing.

Put this in the “should have seen this coming” file. Facebook is allowing vanity URLs for fan pages, brands, celebrities and the rest of us.

Fan pages for businesses, brands and celebrities will be able to adopt such names, too, but they had to have been on the site by May 31, with at least 1,000 “fans” at that time.  Facebook said people will be able to choose the names on a first-come, first-served basis, so if your name is John Smith and not, say, Blaise DiPersia (a Facebook designer who posted about the changes on the site’s blog), it might be a good idea to stake one out early.

I wonder when the day will come when we are are taught to see ourselves as brands.

I seem to be on a t-shirt kick. This is a shirt that implies a three way interaction of narcissism, ADHD, and stalking to predict use of various social network sites. Not a bad model for a research project. . . .

A commentator clued me into this website: Tweetingtoohard.com. Thanks! It was a treasure chest full of narcissistic jewels. Clearly, twittering like all social networking serves multiple motives, but it is tough to imagine from these examples that narcissistic self-regulation is not one of them. The leader/follower dynamic is especially interesting in Twitter – it is more balanced on sites like Facebook or MySpace. So many potential dissertations out there for interested grad students.

fan belt light came on in the 911 so now I’m driving the Cayenne Turbo S – the backup, backup car. Trying not to think about the Tesla…

The people who say I’m arrogant and shallow don’t see me when I’m at home with my wife. Did I mention that she’s a former swimsuit model?

Attention all my followers: Sorry if I am not following you back. Give me a reason to do so.

People ask me about narcissism and Twitter all the time. My hunch is that it is fertile ground for narcissism and voyeurism, but has some very practical purposes as well. I have not seen any research coming out on it yet – science is usually behind social change. Here is a humorous take on Twitter that I ran across on the webpage of The Ben Mercer Show, a Canadian radio show I did this weekend.

Andrew Sullivan make a brief comment about narcissism and the successful blogger. He included this quote from Psychology Today. It was from an article by Carl Vogel called a Field Guide to Narcissism that I was interviewed for several years ago. (As an aside, I think Vogel wrote a very good article):

Subclinical narcissists are happy. They are less likely to be depressed, sad or anxious, and rate their subjective well-being more highly. They’re less reactive to stress, and recover more rapidly from it. Mild narcissism also seems to help people recover from accidents or other trauma—it gives them an unrealistic sense of their own invulnerability, and they believe that they will be able to handle whatever else life throws at them. . . . As one researcher put it, being somewhat narcissistic is like driving a huge SUV: You’re having a great time, even while you hog the road, suck up extra resources and put other drivers at higher risk.

That SUV metaphor is originally from a chapter I wrote with Laura Buffardi. I guess I should write a post explaining it.

To the point, it was interesting to see Sullivan identify subclinical narcissism with successful blogging, as he is the definition of a successful blogger (and also a great speaker). Hopefully, some ambitious grad student is doing research on narcissism and blogging right now.

An interesting article at CNET on gaming and narcissism. Game designer Will Wright argues that a key to gaming design is feeding narcissism.

“Most people are very narcissistic,” said Electronic Arts’ Wright, creator of the Sim City and Sims franchises and now last year’s avant-garde Spore, onstage with Federated Media’s John Battelle. “The more you can make the game about that person, the more interested, the more emotionally involved they will get.”

I find these type of insights from people who really know the business very informative.  See the article here.