Blog 8/Wk 5 – Facebook Suicide

While I do agree with some of the points raised in “Facebook Suicide,” I believe the blame for narcissism in our culture is misplace, and social networking is merely a scapegoat. Yes, it can facilitate narcissistic attitudes, but it is not the cause. In my own personal experience, I do not believe I use it for narcissistic reasons. All throughout high school, I didn’t have any social networking accounts. About a month before I started classes at UCD, I got a MySpace. I added a few people I knew on there as friends, but barely used it. In December 2008 (3 months later), I signed up for Facebook, because a lot of my high school friends had one. I signed up for the sole purpose of keeping in contact with people I knew, and to this day, that is mostly what I still do. The vast majority of my communication with friends and associates who go to school elsewhere in the state/country happens on Facebook, and I speak with many of them quite frequently.

Now, I’m won’t say that I’m completely free of some narcissism. I do post status updates on occasion looking for a response, and spend a lot of time reading and viewing the content of the other people on my friend list. However, it is wrong to say that Facebook, or any other form of social networking is to blame for narcissism. Humanity has been narcissistic for as long as we can tell. Tools such as Facebook may facilitate this and make it help make it worse sometimes, but by no means are the sources. Humanity’s own desire to be seen and bring attention to ourselves is the cause of this narcissism.