The More Facebook Friends You Have, the Bigger Jerk You Are

Hey, kids. Tradge news. I know you thought that your 700 raccoon-eye duckface bathroom self-portraits were establishing you as a rigorous thinker and a pillar of the Internet -- the Christiane Amanpour of "What's in my purse?", if you will -- but, turns out, you're just another "toxic narcissist." A new study from Western Illinois University found a direct link between Facebook use and entitled, narcissistic behavior among American college students. Broadly, the more Facebook friends you have, the more of a complete jerk you are. From the Guardian: Researchers at Western Illinois University studied the Facebook habits of 294 students, aged between 18 and 65, and measured two "socially disruptive" elements of narcissism – grandiose exhibitionism (GE) and entitlement/exploitativeness (EE). GE includes ''self-absorption, vanity, superiority, and exhibitionistic tendencies" and people who score high on this aspect of narcissism need to be constantly at the centre of attention. They often say shocking things and inappropriately self-disclose because they cannot stand to be ignored or waste a chance of self-promotion. The EE aspect includes "a sense of deserving respect and a willingness to manipulate and take advantage of others". Okay. Obviously the worst thing about this study is that it doesn't mention me a single time. But really, while it's not doing much more than confirming what we already suspected -- study finds that narcissists are narcissists! -- this data raises some gnarly questions. Does social media have the potential to transform normals into shallow, self-absorbed, immoral, authoritarian jerks? Or does it merely provide an addictive, very public outlet for people who, in simpler times, displayed their narcissism in less visible ways?

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