My Cover Story, on Social media and Narcissism, published on Daily Observer, Oct 18,2018 20/10/2018 Saturday, 20 October, 2018, 10:48 AM Home Young Observer Cover Story Starving for likes? Published : Thursday, 18 October, 2018 at 12:00 AM Count : 1553 AVIK GANGOPADHYAY According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders the numbers alone tell a powerful story of self-obsessions. More than 80m photographs uploaded to Instagram every day, more than 3.5bn 'likes' every day, and some 1.4bn people, about 20% of the world's population, publishing details of their lives on Facebook. A decade since the mass-proliferation of Facebook, one cannot name a single development that has shaped mass culture in that period as much as social media. It has changed the way we communicate; it has separated us into reality-distorting bubbles, elicits an addiction-like response in the human brain, and threatens to destroy the strata of creative entertainment, traditional and modern, apart from the news industry. To list all the ways that it has altered our world "is a fool's errand", as is tracing all of its side-effects, but there is a loud argument echoed: it has turned an entire generation into vapid narcissists. From deceptive selfie angles that make average-looking people appear attractive, to curating one's Facebook feed so it looks like one is having more fun than actually are, social media has taken neoliberalism into a self-centred dogma and pumped it full of cocaine-laced steroids. This self-deception distracts the narcissist from having to confront painful feelings of inferiority, insecurity, shame, anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, emptiness, or other types of difficult emotions. Numerous studies claim that there is a direct link between the increase in Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and the ubiquity of social media over the past 10 years. NPD gained prominence in the 1960s and official criteria for diagnosis were created in 1980. Characteristics of NPD include a deep need for admiration, an inflated sense of one's own importance, and a lack of empathy for others. Other diagnostic criteria of narcissistic personality disorder include dreaming of unlimited success; craving attention from other people, but showing few warm feelings in return; and choosing friends based on their prestige and status rather than personal qualities. As an observer, it's not difficult to draw parallels between the way people behave on social media and narcissistic traits. The key takeaways from Global Digital Report 2018 are the number of internet users worldwide in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7 per cent year-on-year; the number of social media users worldwide in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13 per cent year-on-year; the number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 5.135 billion, up 4 per cent year-on-year. Silicon Valley tech barons and obsessed teenagers who rarely venture outside of their bedrooms might argue that social media makes the world more interconnected (and no one can deny that it does), yet those connections shouldn't be mistaken for any sort of collectivism. All social media platforms are comprised of a mass of individuals competing against each other for followers, likes, retweets, favourites, and whichever other show of approval exists out there rather than any sort of collective goal. The rise of social media has meant that we as a global population are more connected than we have ever been in the history of time. Reliance on social media has already started showing detrimental effect on mental health without one even realising, with the average people checking their phone more than 28 times a day. While social media platforms can have their benefits, using them too frequently can make one feel increasingly unhappy and isolated in the long run. The constant barrage of perfectly filtered photos that appear on social media are bound to knock many people's self-esteem, while obsessively checking one's feed just before bed could be contributing towards poor quality of sleep. The American Journal of Epidemiology published a study revealing some basic psychological elements encounter fracture with social-media addiction: Self-esteem -- we all have our share of insecurities, some that we speak about openly and others that we prefer to keep to ourselves. However, comparing oneself to others on social media by stalking their aesthetically perfect Instagram photos or staying up to date with their relationship status on Facebook could do little to assuage one's feelings of self-doubt. A Study conducted by the University of Copenhagen found that many people suffer from "Facebook envy", with those who abstained from using the popular site reporting that they felt more satisfied with their lives. Becoming more conscious of the amount of time one spends scrolling through other people's online profiles could help one focus more on oneself and boost self-confidence; Human connection: it can be hard to do so when we're glued to rectangular screens, becoming more acquainted with our friends' digital facades than their real-life personas. Regular use of Facebook had a negative impact on an individual's wellbeing; Memory: social media can be great for looking back fondly on memories and recounting how past events occurred. It can also distort the way in which one remembers certain titbits from life. Many of us are guilty of spending far too much time trying to take the perfect photo of a visual marvel, all the while not actually absorbing the firsthand experience of witnessing it with own two eyes. Spending too much time on our phones will detract from those other aspects of the experience, undermining the happiness we could be gleaning from them; Sleep: getting worked up with anxiety or envy from what we see on social media keeps the brain on high alert, preventing us from falling asleep. The light from our mobile device just inches from our face can suppress the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps us feel tired. Attention span: it's not just one's subconscious brain that one need to worry about, but also the extent to which the brain is able to fully concentrate when one's awake. While it's incredible to consider the amount of information readily available at our fingertips thanks to social media, it also means that people have become far more easily distracted. Social media has provided a means of constantly giving into the temptation of instant, easy-access entertainment. Not only has social media been proven to cause unhappiness, but psychologists opine, it leads to the development of anxiety and depression when used too much or without caution. While one doesn't necessarily have to quit social media for good, if one feels like it's beginning to bog one down, why not consider allocating social media-free time slots during daily routine? The slight change could do a whole lot of good. The Psychology Behind Social Media Engagement A study of 'millennials', the individuals reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century, found that those who were more involved with Facebook -- such as posting photographs, changing profile photos and interacting with wall posts -- were more likely to think other people's lives were happier and better than their own. Scrolling through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, one would be forgiven for thinking that everyone else was having a better time than you. But people are much more complex -- and boring -- than the versions we see on social media. And this addictive stream of positivity has the potential to make us miserable. "If I don't receive any likes, it feels like there's something wrong with me" Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen says, quitting Facebook for a week improves happiness levels and reduces stress by 55 percent. Social media can make it easy to feel like everyone else is awesome and perfect all the time, but that's really never true. We should keep in mind that behind every pretty face or perfect lifestyle is a regular person. In reality, nothing is perfect, life is messy, and people are flawed. People know how they look in real life compared with the images they post on social media. When someone likes or interacts with a post, it feels like someone is listening to one and like what one has to say matters. When one comes across people whose lives look better than one it can make one feel worse about him or herself, even though one knows really that it's just as constructed as others. When social media users are asked to share the reality behind their posts this is what they said, "I was feeling insecure about my image at the time," or "I'm boring," or "Everyone wants me to just shut up." Social Media Statistics * For context, as of April 2018, total worldwide population is 7.6 billion * There are 3.03 billion active social media users * On average, people have 5.54 social media accounts * The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day * 91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels * 81% of all small and medium businesses use some kind of social platform * Internet users have an average of 7.6 social media accounts * That works out at a new social media user every 15 seconds. * Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp handle 60 billion messages a day The writer is an Author, Critic & Columnist, writes from Kolkata, India View in Publication Site