Topic > Millennials, narcissism and social networking sites

In particular, interest in whether people who use SNS have higher levels of narcissism than non-users of such sites. Two reasons have been discovered why people who use SNS may have higher levels of narcissism than non-users. First, narcissism is strongly associated with forming relationships as opportunities for self-improvement (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). Online communities, such as Facebook and Twitter, encourage self-centered behavior because they are built on superficial "friendships" and are often used to maintain large numbers of relationships rather than deeper relationships. This allows narcissists to maintain a large number of superficial relationships, which consistently affirms their narcissistic esteem (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008). Second, these sites offer a highly controlled environment, providing owners with complete self-presentation power (Mehdizadeh, 2010). This provides an ideal environment for the owner to manage the impression they portray to others and create their “hoped-for possible self” (Mehdizadeh, 2010). In particular, SNSs may only be used to share attractive photos of oneself or write self-promotional posts, creating a distorted impression of oneself (Ryan and Xenos,