Are Social Networks Changing The Way We Think About Ourselves? (INFOGRAPHIC)

By August 31, 2012

Are we all social networking narcissists? According to a recent infographic, social networking has not only taken over our time but also changed how we think about ourselves.

Users are amassing more than 1.2 million updates and spending one in five minutes of online time on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook each day. Every 24 hours more than 250 million photos are shared by users to an average of 245 friends, and meanwhile 90 percent of Americans think other people are sharing too much information about themselves.

The infographic suggests that this overflow of sharing has led many social networking users to routinely compare themselves to their inflated number of online friends, with every picture and status update resulting in a new round of self-judgement. It’s not much of a surprise, then, that users with high levels of narcissism and low self esteem are spending more an hour a day browsing their Facebook feed.

So in the end Facebook has become as socially destructive as a high school cafeteria, where not even the most popular kids are as happy and confident as they’re letting on. But we all knew that anyway, right?

Check out the full infographic below to find out just how much social networks have affected the way we think about ourselves.

 

Psychology of Social Networking

 

Corey Cummings

Corey is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he received degrees in English and Creative Writing. He currently lives in Chicago and enjoys alternately obsessing over video games that aren't out yet and crazy gadgets he can't afford.