“I love chai lattes, myself, sunrises, myself, the color yellow, myself, driving, myself, painting, myself, jogging, myself, hugs, myself, sales racks, myself, sappy movies, myself ... ”
   
The Internet has provided members of a younger generation an outlet through which to express themselves and tell the world who they are. To be “single” or “in a relationship,” writing on someone else’s profile, being accepted as Dane Cook’s friend — these are all ways in which members of Generation Me define themselves.
   
However, there seems to be a trend of growing egos and self-absorption stemming from this surge of online activity.
   
Researchers at the University of Georgia conducted a study to test if social networking sites like Facebook.com  and MySpace increased levels of narcissism, according to a Sept. 22 press release from the university’s news service.
   
As part of the study, researchers asked 130 Facebook users to fill out personality questionnaires and analyze the content of their profiles.
   
A second group of untrained observers then analyzed the same profiles and determined how narcissistic the profiles’ owners were.
   
According to the press release, the research showed the more friends and wall posts a person had correlated with increased narcissism, the trait of excessive self-love or self-worship.
   
In the release, Laura Buffardi, graduate student in psychology at Georgia and leader of the study, said this is similar to how narcissists act in the real world, forming numerous, shallow relationships with others.    Narcissistic personal Web page users also tend to use flashier, more self-promoting profile pictures, the study said.
   
Don Saucier, assistant professor in psychology, said he thinks these Web sites do have the power to create narcissism.
   
“It appears these sites are a way to quantify your social standing,” he said. “Someone can have thousands of friends, but they don’t provide social support. Friends for the sake of having friends is a way to seemingly feel good about yourself and is a lazy way to make yourself feel popular.”
   
But even while research found that having several friends and copious wall posts reflects on the egotistical nature some users have, the question of how these things increase narcissism arises.
     
“There’s a point when the people with so many friends turn people down who want their friendship, as if to say, ‘You’re not good enough to be in my social circle. Look how many friends I have. You can’t be one of them,’ and that makes them feel good,” Saucier said.
   
Narcissistic trends have been on the rise in recent years and Saucier said this has to do with unconditional positive regard, or receiving positive feedback regardless of if it is deserved.
   
“It’s like when everyone who participates gets a trophy — there’s no distinction between first and last place,” he said. “Because people haven’t had to do anything to earn the positive feedback, they feel better about themselves.
   
“Good results are expected no matter what is done and when those results aren’t seen, negative feelings emerge and those people feel insulted.”
   
Michael Fee, sophomore in advertising, said he thinks narcissism and self-confidence have a significant connection, though not a necessary one.
   
“There’s a way to be narcissistic but not confident,” Fee said. “To have confidence, other people have to feel the same way, because I can look at myself in the mirror and think I look good, but then I’d go out and wonder if other people think the same way I do.”
   
Fee also said he believes having high self-involvement can come from social interactions.
   
“Narcissism is spurred from social ties,” he said. “If your parents or friends think very highly of themselves, you’re more likely to carry that trait as well.”
   
Whether or not social-networking sites cause narcissism, Saucier said the future of this trend is unclear. 
   
“In 10 years, all of this stuff might fall by the wayside as a fad,” Saucier said. “It may be a symptom more than the cause, so the real question is, ‘Are these sites really creating narcissism or just allowing it to continue?’”

'Study: Facebook profiles can be used to detect narcissism'
http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/080922_Narcissism.shtml

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