The new narcissism: comparison and competition in social networks
The narcissism it is a condition that supposes an excessive admiration for oneself, for one's own qualities, whether physical, psychic or both. The origin of the term refers to Narcissus myth, who because he admires his image too much in the water, drowned. Beyond the mirror, Now narcissism is projected on social networks.
Nowadays, the infatuation of oneself is displaced, it no longer has its object in the reflection of the image itself in the water as Narcissus or in the mirror as before, but in the reflection of it in the social networks. Excessive self-esteem can be very dangerous and become pathological, triggering serious negative consequences.
The classic narcissism
The narcissism it is an excessive esteem towards oneself, an overestimation that leads to serious problems for the well-being and happiness of the person. Narcissism can be considered as one of the features of normal personality, but it can also become a severe pathology.
The excess narcissism is nothing more than an apparent overestimation that, in most cases, actually hides low self-esteem. The subject who knows that he should feel affection for himself, does not experience such affection and as a strategy to alleviate the discomfort generated by this lack develops an excessive vanity and over esteem, in addition to an exaggerated search for admiration and recognition of others.
When this occurs, the person is severely compromised in their social skills, and their abilities to live a happy life and feel comfortable with themselves.
The new narcissism and its projection in social networks
The new narcissism is a renewal of this traditional tendency. Social networks have been a real revolution in the way we relate, belong to a group and even show ourselves to others. The social value of the person is relegated to the number of reactions that their publications have, it does not matter if you do not have real contact with your followers or virtual friends.
These are new strategies to capture the attention of others, to get their admiration to feed their egocentric personality. The reactions to the publications gradually engage the narcissist who sees covered, even in an unrealistic way, his needs for admiration and affirmation. In this way, self-esteem is ephemerally fed with each publication and it is necessary to keep up to date the publications to obtain the new dose of self-esteem. Little by little the virtual image acquires a great weight and, also it becomes more unreal, filters, posed, exaggeration of happiness, that move away from the real image of the person.
The comparison and competition of narcissism
In the new narcissism there is also a new nuance that has to do with feeling superior to others. Often, these people are compared with other similar users and compete for more or better reactions. They spend hours pending the reactions of others to their publications and go further, also spend hours pending the answers that other people get. Entering in this way in an absurd competition to get a greater number of "I like" and thus experience that needy feeling, that feeling of superiority that calms their shortcomings.
What can we do to avoid falling into narcissism?
1. To reaffirm the self We do not need admiration from others, look for alternatives to find yourself that are based on development, reflection, etc.
2. Develop your self-concept, it's about knowing you as you are, with your strengths and weaknesses, and learning to accept and love them. For this he thinks that just as you accept others with their faults, you can do it with you.
3. Forget about comparing yourself with others and stay away from the search for admiration. It is true that we all like to be admired and that is why we get hooked on those reactions, but remember that you do not need it.
4. Stay away from those who try to compare constantlye or pretend continuous admiration.
Celia Rodríguez Ruiz. Clinical health psychologist. Specialist in pedagogy and child and youth psychology. Director of Educa and Learn. Author of the collection Stimulate Reading and Writing Processes.
It may interest you:
- Low child self-esteem and positive reinforcement
- Personality test: do you have confidence in yourself?
- The development of the personality of children
- The egocentric personality
