The Tale Of Narcissus

Once upon a time, people used to take photographs of other people. But with the arrival of a front-facing camera, people have begun taking pictures of themselves instead. This is called a selfie and it is defined as “a self-portrait photograph of oneself (or of oneself and other people), taken with a camera or a camera phone held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror, that is usually shared through social media” (Sorokowski et al., 2015). Several years later, with the technological capability to take self-portraits and instantly share it with the world in the palm of our hands, people are taking pictures of themselves more than ever. In fact, the younger a person is, the more likely he or she is participating in the proliferation of this trend

In other versions of the Ancient Greek myth, Narcissus transformed into a daffodil - a flower that continues to flourish until today. And like the flower, narcissism persists in modern society. While the tale of Narcissus may have happened eons ago, our current definition of narcissism still embodies many of the same character flaws, including: a social extraversion with little interest in forming intimate relationships with others, a positive and inflated sense of self, and various efforts aimed at self-enhancement. And at present, it is widely agreed on that narcissism is associated with social media and selfies. But in what way exactly? Does narcissism promote the act of taking selfies and use of social media? Or, perhaps, it is the other way around? Or is the ability to selectively present oneself online appealing to everyone, regardless of their level of narcissism? And, does it immediately indicate the presence of a narcissistic personality disorder in a

Basically, narcissistic individuals desire to find ways to bring everyone’s attention to them because they believe that they are “larger than life”. And this can be easily achieved through social media - a platform that not only allows people to promote themselves, but also gives them power over the matter. Because of this, narcissists tend to delight in taking and sharing selfies even more. Doing so enables them to gain full control of how they appear to other people on social media. By posting flattering selfies, they are also able to boost and reinforce their egos through the constant feedback they receive from a large digital audience. This is displayed in the results of Fox and Rooney’s (2015) study on men, showing an increased number of selfies taken by men with narcissistic traits. Moreover, they gain popularity through their heavily-edited images and biographical information because it meets their audience’s expectations. It could therefore be hypothesized that taking selfies and social media use is high in individuals with elevated narcissistic traits because it fuels their