Facebook's 'dark side': study finds link to socially aggressive narcissism

Too many 'friends'? A psychology paper has found a link between Facebook and other social media and socially disruptive narcissism. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

By Damien Pearse

(The Guardian) Researchers have established a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a "socially disruptive" narcissist, confirming the conclusions of many social media sceptics.

People who score highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire had more friends on Facebook, tagged themselves more often and updated their newsfeeds more regularly.

The research comes amid increasing evidence that young people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, and obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships.

The latest study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, also found that narcissists responded more aggressively to derogatory comments made about them on the social networking site's public walls and changed their profile pictures more often.

A number of previous studies have linked narcissism with Facebook use, but this is some of the first evidence of a direct relationship between Facebook friends and the most "toxic" elements of narcissistic personality disorder.

Researchers at Western Illinois University studied the Facebook habits of 294 students, aged between 18 and 65, and measured two "socially disruptive" elements of narcissism – grandiose exhibitionism (GE) and entitlement/exploitativeness (EE).

GE includes ''self-absorption, vanity, superiority, and exhibitionistic tendencies" and people who score high on this aspect of narcissism need to be constantly at the centre of attention. They often say shocking things and inappropriately self-disclose because they cannot stand to be ignored or waste a chance of self-promotion.
The EE aspect includes "a sense of deserving respect and a willingness to manipulate and take advantage of others".

The research revealed that the higher someone scored on aspects of GE, the greater the number of friends they had on Facebook, with some amassing more than 800.

Those scoring highly on EE and GG were also more likely to accept friend requests from strangers and seek social support, but less likely to provide it, according to the research...

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• Facebook's 'dark side': study finds link to socially aggressive narcissism

Some users are closing the book on Facebook

Young adults suffer social network fatigue

BY MATT HUSTON

(The Philadelphia Inquirer) The world's most popular website started in a college dorm room, and for some users it stops there, too.

Though Facebook currently claims a tenth of the world's population in monthly users, many in its original demographic, young adults, have attempted, sometimes successfully, to go against the grain. Call it Facebook fatigue, social network sickness, sensory overload: It's not unusual for college-age users to call it quits.

At least for a little while.

Colleen Andrews, 24, a graphic designer from Far Hills, N.J., was spurred by a breakup: "I didn't want to be tempted to look at his profile," she said. She dumped her own Facebook profile in September.

"People get angry at you," said Cara O'Keeney, 22, a College of New Jersey senior. She deactivated her account in September and said her friends are still sending her text messages about it."

Laura Amatulli, a senior at the College of New Jersey, has given up the site for Lent four times.

Dan Granados, 17, of Levittown, Pa., stopped using his account a few weeks ago. For him, it's a personal challenge. "I just decided to deactivate it, see how long I could go."

The social network, along with competitors such as Twitter and the recently launched Google-plus, is ingrained in the everyday lives of students and young professionals who came of age as social networking was on the rise. But Facebook, with a huge initial public offering expected this spring, looms largest.

Those who quit Facebook give a variety of reasons: superficial connections, inappropriate posts, distraction from work or other activities. Stepping away from the constant data feed can be a relief, they say.

According to Zizi Papacharissi, head of the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the reason people leave Facebook is tied to the reason they start using it in the first place. They are "balancing social opportunity with risk," she said. Those who give it up are the ones who decide that the costs outweigh the benefits.

"Maybe it's taking up too much time, maybe it's taking up too much effort," Papacharissi said. Another complaint is oversharing. The average number of Facebook friends per user is 245, according to a Pew Research Center sample. But these connections don't always amount to information that users actually want to pay attention to.

"I'd say there was a good 200 people that I either didn't know very well or didn't know at all," Granados said.

Derek Snyder, 20, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said he was unhappy with the amount of drinking photos and other posts he deemed inappropriate.

He prefers Twitter: "No pictures, easier to use, nobody talking drama on you or anybody else."

The pull of Facebook, however, is not always easy to escape. So prevalent is the site among young people, some ex-users face personal temptation and even complaints from their friends.

"People get angry at you," said Cara O'Keeney, 22, a College of New Jersey senior. She deactivated her account in September and said her friends are still sending her text messages about it.

Papacharissi stressed that Facebook is a real domain for friendship.

"You want to think of Facebook as just a different place where people interact," she said. "Just like you go with your friends to the bar or to the movies ... Facebook is just another place."

Admitting the possibility that they might go back, former Facebook users cited the desire to keep in touch with graduating friends, meet new roommates and maintain a social connection that they started to take for granted.

But the social media giant is undoubtedly here to stay, Papacharissi said. Colleges and universities themselves are on Facebook these days.

"It is more and more difficult for people to leave Facebook because it's become very much a social institution," she said. "A service like Facebook will continue to the point of ubiquity. It will be like social wallpaper."

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CIA's Facebook Program Dramatically Cut Agency's Costs

Italian Priest Uncovers 100 Pedophile Networks

Meter Association Gathered Evidence for US and Italy

ROME, SEPT. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A hundred online pedophile communities will be disconnected and prosecuted by U.S. and Italian authorities thanks to the work of the Meter Association, founded by Italian Father Fortunato Di Noto.

ZENIT learned from the association that the networks consisted of some 18,181 people who used online community Web sites to host and exchange "thousands of images and video footage -- 27,894 pedophiliac photos and 1,617 videos -- as well as information regarding the trade of minors."

The news was further publicized by Rome's Italian police force, in cooperation with other security forces.

"Thousands of children were involved," the association added.

Father Di Noto, a native of Sicily, explained that with the aid of a team of volunteers, Meter discovered "a universe that is not virtual, but real, in which people can register and exchange pornographic material of minors -- photos, videos, even dates with minors -- through one of the most well known social networks in the United States."

The association stated that "investigators both in Italy and in the United States termed the uncovered material an 'authentic horror,' with newborns and children of a very young age as the objects of violence and sexual abuse."

Meter, which is a pioneering association in the struggle against pedophilia, worked for six months in order to deliver the current evidence to the Italian police department that deals with Internet crimes. The charges were subsequently communicated to the North American authorities.

Response

Father Di Noto, a pastor in the town of Avola, stated: "It is impossible to describe the horrors we have seen, uncovered and denounced in six months. Constant vigilance has brought unexpected results, and today we have more hope than ever that online pederasty and pedophilia, crimes against children and against humanity, can and shall be defeated."

The priest added: "There is not a nation which has not been involved. Tens of thousands of people produce, exchange and possess material, and violate children."

"This is not 'virtual' material," he asserted, "but real, so real that when you hear in the videos the children's screams of pain, when you see in the photos the faces of the newborns, you can hear the drama, the pain, the suffering."

The association stated that online social networking sites have provoked a change in the pedophiles' strategies.

Father Di Noto explained, "The social network is a double-edged sword in matters of pedophilia: On the one hand, it permits communication between pedophiles and in a certain sense, increases their possibilities; on the other hand, it is the most efficient instrument for security forces to find and disconnect their Web sites."

The priest reported that over the past five years, his association has secured 1,064 charges and reported almost 6,000 sites to the authorities.

For this reason, the founder of Meter launched an appeal, to journalists in particular, to keep public awareness us and to "not to let down the guard against this crime."

In reporting about this type of thing, he said the authorities as well as the legislators will be motivated to give an adequate response to the terrible suffering of these children.

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On the Net:

Meter Association: http://www.associazionemeter.org/

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