Social Networking Sites May Boost Self-esteem, Narcissism

A new study has found that social networking users may focus more on themselves than on connecting with others. 

The study was conducted by graduate student Brittany Gentile in the 's Department of Psychology, and department head Keith Campbell, along with San Diego State University Professor Jean Twenge. It found that people who log into Facebook may be boosting their self-esteem in the process. Users of sites like Myspace may show also show higher narcissism traits. 

Researchers conducted the study by randomly assigning college students to edit either their Facebook or Myspace pages, or to do a control task online such as interacting with Google Maps. Those who use MySpace were more likely to show narcissistic traits, whereas those who focused on Facebook were more likely to have high self-esteem.

“Despite the name ‘social networks,’ much user activity on networking sites is self-focused,” Gentile said in an Atlanta Business Chronicle article.

Though researchers speculate increased narcissism reflects a self-absorbed culture, gaining higher self-esteem through social networking sites might not be negative.

"“Ideally, you get self-esteem from having strong relationships and achieving goals that are reasonable and age-appropriate,” Campbell told the the Chronicle. “Ideally, self-esteem is not something you should take a short cut to find. It is a consequence of a good life, not something you chase.”

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