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Aishu Anil Hackney Rhetoric 101 25 November 2013 Drowned in Selfies Social media is all around us now a days but is that necessarily a good or bad thing? Many people use it to keep in touch with loved ones, support causes, and even to promote their businesses all around the web. In recent discussions regarding social media, especially the famous Facebook, an issue discussed was whether social media causes an individual to become narcissist. The question then becomes, What exactly is narcissism? Keith Hampton claims that the typical user of a social media website does not fit the definition of a narcissist so therefore, it cannot make a person one. He believes that every generation has had something to make them a Generation Me. But however, other perspectives are that social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, are enablers for narcissistic personalities and some say that these websites shouldnt be held accountable at all for such behavior. My perspective on this issue is that social media does make it extremely easy for a person to become egocentric but does not particularly cause narcissism in an individual. Although I recognize that a person may appear to be narcissistic through these social media websites, I still maintain that this does not make an individual a narcissist. While some may say that social media causes an individual to become a narcissist, I feel as though social media only creates the illusion of narcissism and simply just enables someone to become overly self-absorbed. One perspective is that social media is having the complete opposite effect of narcissism like Jeff Bullas in his article, Everyone Has a Voice, Everyone Is Judged. Bullas believes that

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the Web is not only used for online attention seeking, leading to a vain, pointless and shallow existence. Instead he maintains that the feedback received in social networking does not lead to overwhelming amounts of narcissism but is ushering in a new age of human creativity. He also believes that social media teaches us how to take criticism as well as praise, making one stronger, which is far from creating narcissists. Keith Hampton makes similar points in his article, Young, Wild and Friended, only he believes that every generation is Generation Me, as every generation of younger people are more narcissistic that their elders. This basically means that every generation has that one aspect that makes them absorbed in themselves. Similar to Bullas, Hampton maintains that even though some use social media to fulfill their hunt for attention, this is not the only thing individuals use it for. He claims, Many more sacrifice audience segmentation for the benefits of immediate connectivity. His final point was that the typical or even heavy user of social media does not fit the definition of a narcissist: selfcentered and disengaged. Although Bullas and Hampton make a few valid points in their argument, I still maintain that social media enables an individual to become overly self-absorbed and somewhat obsessed with their social image.