Is that person with more than 500 friends, innumerable photos, scores of witty status message, fan pages and likes really you? Who is doing what, who is seeing whom, who attended what concert, who bought a new phone, who hates his/her job, who is eating what food, who hates Mondays, who is going where. Some people tend to chronicle every minute spent. Is this information we really can’t live without?
Nevertheless these days we are not only bombarded with such information but also willingly contribute to it ourselves. There is a need to stand out. One can easily gauge an individual’s personality by simply looking at their profiles by simply looking at their profiles on these social networking sites.
Profiles pictures, status message reflecting the current state of mind, pictures of parties, events of outings, relationship statuses, work information, likes fan pages etc are all a part of our virtual identity and reflect our personas. This increasing presence online is either competing with or complementing our identity in real life.
Does the old adage that an extrovert in real life will be equally popular and outgoing in the virtual worlds and vice versa, hold true in the digital age? Or will an introvert in real life exhibit a livelier persona and find it easier to express himself freely in the virtual world? It is very difficult to establish the truth, but we can safely say that in the most cases, our profile pages mirror our real life down to the last detail.
Socializing in the real world often puts pressure on people to live up to their virtual avatars. Also more often than not, through these sites people vent their feelings about issues faced in real life. Maintaining popularity is the key.
The general belief is that the number of friends and followers one has reflects how popular they are. You will find people accepting friend requests from random users some of them may be friends of friends or even strangers who just came across your name somehow.
On the other hand, having a good profile picture or an emotional status message has become a way of attracting attention. Researchers have attributed these behavioural patterns as narcissism while also stating that constant use further fuels such tendencies.
A study conducted by the York University of Canada suggests that Facebook is a magnet for narcissists and people with low self esteem.
The study defined narcissism as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Undergraduate psychology student Soraya Mehdizadeh who conducted the study states that Facebook is an ideal setting for narcissists and also serves as a social lubricant for those with low self esteem.
According to her people with low self esteem find it easier to connect with people online and this boosts their confidence.