If you have a Facebook, you’ve probably seen certain articulate statuses that say something along the lines of “uggggggh this is the worst.” The poster will get a couple comments that question the person’s motivation for this action and ask what is actually wrong, and the poster will not respond. Not only are these posts annoying and contrived, they’re also extremely narcissistic. They seem to have no purpose but to call for attention. The poster is knowingly projecting their emotions of frustration into an extremely public space. Yet, behind all the images on the screen there is a living breathing human being, knowingly pushing this image of themselves upon others. Facebook statuses are an easy way to get one’s sentiments out to the public. But Facebook should cease to be a further tool for narcissistic behavior in a social environment that is slowly gaining distance from reality.
The Facebook status bar reads, “What’s on your mind?” Some use this tool to promote themselves (e.g. got into college or I did this supposedly “awesome” thing.) Others use it to vaguely complain to generate interest and pity, as I mentioned above. With every single move, one creates a permanent new version of oneself on Facebook.
On Facebook, one can take time and create a perfect, self-constructed image of themselves with each status. They can make witty comments, promote themselves in various ways and let the world know through their updates and their friends’ likes that they are awesome. Twitter is yet another version of this, where one can make contrived statuses of self promotion.
On the other hand, there are those whose statuses aim to inform or amuse, those who make silly observations or Tweet hilarious things. They don’t take their online profile too seriously, and just get their goof on constantly. Riff Raff is great at this. He is constantly tweeting/facebooking/vining, yet he is constantly hilarious and even became a rap star (who just signed a 2 million dollar contract with Def Jam) because of his social media savvy. Another example of this is “Wolfpupy,” who Tweeted, “if anyone finds a cool leaf its mine i lost it” and “love is not saying anything but knowing you’re both thinking about cool and fast trains.”
Like most things on the Internet, I think Facebook should be taken with a grain of salt. When one presents himself or herself on the Internet as a real accomplisher/complainer/philosopher, it’s hard to take him or her seriously in person. Take note, one is sharing with all of one’s online friends. In some cases that can be in the thousands. Through statuses, people visibly construct a self-image that they want to be known to the rest of the world –– and usually it turns out to be amazingly fake. When one’s online personality is extremely publicly intimate (with hundreds of people you’re not intimate with in the least), it’s also hard to trust that person. People who don’t take their online profile too seriously come off as much more likeable in person.
It’s easy to show off on Facebook, arguably much easier than in real life. One simply pushes a button and receives instant likes on one’s accomplishments (e.g. I got into Stanford Medical School –– 41 likes). This kind of instant gratification is nice after working hard at accomplishing something but takes away from the importance of real human interaction. People who take themselves too seriously are hard to handle –– at least for me –– and human interaction makes one realize the importance of being humble, not simply showing off or showing frustration all the time. So instead of posting one’s frustrations or accomplishments, save that for the real people who care about you rather than of all those “online friends.”
