trading floor than among
a group of friends. Declarations
of: “We’re at the chef’s table at The Fat
Duck”, “Just been given centre court
tickets to Wimbledon” and “Hello,
new Miu Miu bag” are indeed amazing
for the person involved but sharing
them with 456 others? It can come
across as a little smug. Then there
are the updates of the ‘hilarious’
nature; a spontaneously witty,
off-the-cuff remark which probably
took the writer a good
10 minutes to construct in order
to receive a chorus of ‘LOLs’.
Up there with the most annoying
Tweets and status updates are those
of a cryptic nature. The ones which
suggest the Tweeter is desperate to
share their fascinating nugget of
information but reluctant to specify
what it is: “XXXX cannot BELIEVE
what just happened” and “XXXX is soo
excited about tonight’s proceedings.”
Like that clever film trailer or teasing
book excerpt, they draw you in,
wanting you to beg for more. Except
unlike the next Stieg Larsson book
or the plot of the next Harry Potter
movie, they probably just had a nibble
on a Cadbury’s Crème Egg.
There are also the worthy updaters.
One minute they’re reciting a
meaningful life motto: “Yesterday’s
the past, tomorrow’s the future, but
today is a gift. That’s why it’s called
the present” while in the next breath,
they are wishing RIP to a recently
passed photographer/rock star and
lamenting how much they’ll miss them.
����WWW�STYLIST�CO�UK
And finally, the oversharers, be it
gruesome labour stories, sexually
explicit updates or blow-by-blow
accounts of a break-up.
FROM�FRIENDSHIP�
TO�SELF-PROMOTION�
Of course, blogging and sharing is
nothing new, online networking is
so old hat now that everyone from our
niece to our nan is doing it. What
started back in 1999 with Friends
Reunited has exploded into a 21st
century phenomenon that is now so
“THE BRITISH ARE INFAMOUS FOR
BEING RESERVED AND BUTTONED UP.
POSTING BIKINI PICTURES JARS WITH
GENERATIONS OF MODESTY” STY
deeply ingrained in our culture that
even our politicians (famously slow to
catch on to what’s relevant) used it
voraciously in the general election.
As well as forging new friendships
and allowing us to stay in touch with
friends worldwide, it’s proving an
invaluable tool in tracking the
ever-shifting movements of popular
culture. And with over 400 million
active Facebook users and 26 million
Twitterers, there’s no denying its
influence and power. So, is the internet
responsible for the rise in the ‘me’
culture? After all, the British are
infamous for being reserved, tight-
“OMG SOMEONE JUST
SAID HOW GREAT I LOOK IN
WHITE JEANS. LOL!!!!!!!!!!”
lipped, buttoned up… so posting
photo albums’ worth of bikini pictures
online jars with generations of
modesty, right? Perhaps there is
something about the medium of the
web that’s turning us into a generation
of online narcissists…
Some say it is to blame. David
Kirkpatrick, author of new book The
Facebook Effect (Virgin Books, £11.99)
cites the example of 25-year-old media
assistant, Shaun Dolan, to support the
theory that the site has turned us all
into keen self-promoters. Dolan
reveals, “My generation is unbearably
narcissistic. When I go out with my
friends, there is always a camera
present, for the singular goal of posting
pictures online.”
However, other observers believe
that human beings have always been
intrinsically narcissistic; we’ve just
found a new medium to vent it. Today
we might Tweet our successes but
self-promotion and social narcissism
aren’t new, in fact for centuries the rich
and powerful documented their
achievements and status through
self-commissioned portraits. Like
Facebook today choosing our own
profile picture is the image that we
want to project to the world. We crop
and we edit and we pose just to get
that crucial shot. We add to the visual
identity with information about our
favourite bands, mantras, poets, TV
shows and countries.
“Today’s Facebook profile page
acts as a 21st-century commissioned
self-portrait,” says Helen Perkes,
a London-based psychotherapist and
relationship counsellor. “It satisfies the
timeless human desire for attention
and life affirmation.”
Interestingly, Facebook also
encourages us to spend our time
updating our ‘status’. Like the selfcommissioned
portraits, these
updates reaffirm to the world our
‘status’ in society.
THE�DARK�SIDE�
OF�NARCISSISM�
But isn’t sharing information online just
a bit of harmless, if self-involved, fun?
Perkes explains that while putting the
best possible version of yourself online
is understandable, the problem begins
when, “You don’t accept that you have
any negative elements. Online, it’s
possible to pretend that you have no
negatives at all.”
Another fear is that it can act as
a prop for those who don’t have a
strong identity of their own. “Twittering
stems from a lack of identity. It’s a
constant update of who you are, what
you are, where you are. Nobody would
Twitter if they had a strong sense of
identity,” says clinical psychologist
Oliver James.
Perkes feels that criticism may be
a little too heavy handed. “We all want
to be part of the pack, to fit in with
everyone else. That’s survival, rather
than Narcissistic Personality Disorder,”
she argues. When everyone feels the
need to voice their opinion on a
common topic or event, such as the
World Cup, it can be maddening (even
when we’re participating) but Perke
maintains that it’s just our desire to
belong kicking in. It turns out we are
not that different to the teenagers
semi-consciously mimicking pop stars
or characters from The Hills. After all,
what are Tweets if not mini ‘press
releases from our agent’?
However, there is beginning to be
a backlash against this narcissistic
behaviour. Just take a look at
tweetingtoohard.com, where users can
load pretentious Tweets – such gems
as, “I gave my cleaning lady a raise
today, even though she didn’t ask, as
my own little contribution to fighting
the recession” and, “It makes me sad,
the more I have success the more
people don’t like me…” – and rate them
with ‘back pats’.
And the irony of this self-validating
behaviour is that the most engaging
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