The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

Study: Facebook users are narcissistic, suffer from low self-esteem

By | September 10, 2010, 8:55am PDT

Summary: It’s not the first time that a study has revealed that Facebook users like to show off, but this new one from York University in Canada has some strong words to describe some of the 500 million and growing members of this social network.

It’s not the first time that a study has revealed that Facebook users like to show off, but this new one from York University in Canada has some strong words to describe some of the 500 million and growing members of this social network.

A hundred students, 50 male and 50 female, between the ages of 18 and 25 participated in the study.

One of the biggest findings, according to the study, is that Facebook users who update their profiles frequently (you know who you are) are more likely to be narcissistic. On the other hand, those who check the site often throughout the day are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem.

Furthermore, researchers determined that women to carefully select “self-promoting” images when it came to profile photos, but men tended to brag more about themselves throughout their profiles.

These are some pointed statements, but for some reason they aren’t terribly surprising. Do you agree or disagree with the findings of this study?

Related coverage on ZDNet:

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Topics

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

80
Comments

Join the conversation!

Just In

good idea about facebook
gavin.chan 30th Sep
Good post, and I learn more about it. We supply various brands of camera and camcorder batteries, including Canon, Casio, Fuji, JVC, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sumsung and other brands. Buy Buy panasonic camera batteries from dealingway at wholesale price.057cn
Sounds about right.
0 Votes
+ -
time to go check facebook again lovey
OS Reload Updated - 10th Sep 2010
Three minutes have passed since you last checked it, maybe someone left something there for you, something that lifts you up.

Maybe this time you can leave it feeling good, who knows. Go lovey, go check it.
@OS Reload

Sure, just as soon as you check your profile on Hot or Not.
@Loverock Davidson

Low self-esteem?
Blame it to todays fad! The first time I filled in, I was only curious, and I left it all hollow/ nothing much inside. I even read that CIA's and Home Defense of U.S. are being too nosy to check everyone in it.
I only put photos in it lately, because a lot of employers are referring to Facebook and Linkln. Other than that, I don't give a Shhh!
You are not too accurate with your belief.
0 Votes
+ -
@armanjcrey Whassat Mean?
0 Votes
+ -
What's new?
klumper 10th Sep 2010
Sounds about right is right. Same thing I've been saying for ages now -- on ZDN and beyond. Other than pointing out they're also the most likely to get pwnd.
0 Votes
+ -
"Researchers"...
jasonp@... 10th Sep 2010
who come up with drivel like this and try to paint it as meaningful are narcissistic, suffer from low self-esteem. I spent no money and wasted no time finding people to participate in a study to come up with this. Some things are just self-evident.
0 Votes
+ -
Tax funded
becabill 15th Sep 2010
@jasonp@...
"MythBusters"!
I have said it before and will say it again: we award way too many PhD's in the social sciences in the United States

I'm not saying the social sciences aren't useful, but there are only so many good topics to write about, and when you run out the only thing left to do is produce garbage
@Doctor Demento

Ditto! There are way too many paraprofessionals running around this country/world professing they know everything about anything. Hence these "studies" get published. Anyone with any knowledge regarding the scientific method would immediately point out that 100 isn't even an adequate sample size, psychologists are notoriously bad about spewing crap like this day in and day out. But what's really sad is that the news media just eat this excrement right up. Guess this sort of crap does get the viewer ratings up, sigh....
@nothingness
I dunno. I didn't see the implied claim to "know everything" but rather bring up a somewhat obscure observation with which many postings here, seem to concur.
Right or wrong, the news item DID seem to stimulate discussion and comment. Maybe that is all they were aiming for, beyond funding of a research project for a degree program.
@Doctor Demento
Maybe so. When we have a "control" group (where we know reliably how to identify "narcissistic" and "low-esteem" in a way that does not implicitly include 80 percent of North American Population), then maybe it is worth debating. Possibly some folks at York University already had Facebook habits and were just looking for a way to get paid to do it. Good work if you can get it.
In the meantime, Fish Heads, Fish Heads, eat 'em up, yum.
@ta1 So maybe the outcome was pretty well inevitable.
I, on the other hand, don't read or reply to blogs at all, so, you see, the results are dead accurate.
@Doctor Demento
AGREED! I also have thought this a long time, but alas, most of my friends live in the "soft sciences". Well, OK maybe the female friends.
And of course they are all into "homeopathy", "magic crystal channelling" and other such crap. They are all suckers for Internet "FORWARD IT! ITS TRUE" crap also.
But I digress.
Strangely, I have few male friends that live in this Facebook/Twatter social networking twaddle...
0 Votes
+ -
United States?
kidtree Updated - 10th Sep 2010
@Doctor Demento Is Canada part of the United States now? Is this something Congress passed, or did Obama just declare it to be so? Did the Canadians get any say in the matter?
@kidtree : Errr. Some call Canada the 51st state. Seriously, Canada [by population] is a mini version of the US. We share many characteristics. Many new items are tested in Canada [remember McPizza from McDonalds?]. It gives an idea on if an item will do well in the US. Hell, even the same phone and TV systems.
0 Votes
+ -
How to piss off a Canadian
Lester Young 14th Sep 2010
@GIS Bun:

Call Canada the 51st state. Canadians see the US as being backwards as hell, on everything from health care to international policy. And they're right.
0 Votes
+ -
Remember? We tried to annex Canada
becabill 15th Sep 2010
@kidtree but turned it down on account of those funny accents. Now with texting, it's not such a big deal, but they are
Narcissistic or have low self-esteem. Good thing we studied them.
@Doctor Demento are you a profeesional ? , thn you should not attack a fellow profession (sociol scieces)

jimkwebs@ya....
0 Votes
+ -
Easy, there, Doc
becabill 15th Sep 2010
@Doctor Demento ...This comes from Canada. It must *good*
0 Votes
+ -
You have some interesting findings based on your study. They may be OK for some. However, they can't be applied to all the users across the board, I trust.

For example, the White House has a page on facebook. Do they like to show off? Are they likely to be narcissistic? Do they suffer from low self-esteem?

LOL
@sumedha manabarana

To quote Meatloaf, Two out of Three Ain't bad.
@sumedha manabarana
Good point. that would depend heavily on whose bag of TEA we might have been eating from recently. For some it would be narcissism, to others it would be creative use of the 'net which was partly responsible for the Democrats taking back congress and the White House from the GOP. You know, the GOP, who was slow off the dime to discover the internet culture, but really quick to criticize a rightful claim of credit for funding its development during the 2000 Presidentail Campaign.
@sumedha manabarana Answers to your questions: YES, YES and YES!!!
0 Votes
+ -
Two out of Three ain't bad (NT)
becabill 15th Sep 2010
@sumedha manabarana
0 Votes
+ -
tell me something I don't know!
Linux Geek Updated - 10th Sep 2010
why would a normal person like to broadcast everyting he/she does?....I guess they are people with no life and friends!
@Linux Geek
1) you don't need FB to do that
2) people with no life, do sometimes appear to think that they have one that everyone wants to know about
3) FB does not REQUIRE you to broadcast every little detail, but you do have to pay attention to your settings to throttle it.
0 Votes
+ -
Hmm...
Peter Perry 10th Sep 2010
@Linux Geek Kind of like a Linux Geek huh? They probably don't have a lot of friends either. wink
@Linux Geek As opposed to those who troll and spam in internet forums?
0 Votes
+ -
How about a similar study on...
boomchuck1 Updated - 10th Sep 2010
...people who fanatically post comments on stories like this. I see some folks who post so often on some of these stories that I wonder if they even have a job, or if they just like to see their name in the comments. Narcissistic? Low self esteeem?
@boomchuck1
If you MUST know (in the FB sense), I have 8 more minutes of lunch break, then back to work. If that means "life" by your standards then I guess I am in the "has one" column.
0 Votes
+ -
uh
sportmac Updated - 10th Sep 2010
100 people between the ages of 18 and 25? and they're all students?
from this they pigeonhole 1/12 of the earths population?
seems to me a much more varied sampling would be required. i find it hard to believe that the majority of 500 million people who use it are students in this age group.
of course, we are talking about students so i could be wrong but everyone i know who uses it (i don't) are well beyond student years.
which means, well, about as much as this study.
@sportmac
Agreed!
This was a major criticism of this "scientific study" when it first hit the airwaves in Canada a few days ago.
18-25 yr-old "students"? And probably all in the various Social Sciences programs? LOL!
Well, of course! They are all Narcissistic by definition!
But still, I suspect a study of a wider and larger FB/Twatter twits population would probably have turned up similar results.
0 Votes
+ -
My generation tried twittering
becabill 15th Sep 2010
@PercySludge But the smoke signals all ran together. Bandwidth problem, you see.
0 Votes
+ -
@sportmac not the immaturity of the users.
The age range of FB users is too broad to make a study like that count. They polled college kids not much more than teenagers. What about my 70+ year old cousin who is on FB or my 13 year old son, my aunt?s, uncles, parents? You can't study college kids and say its law. Look at the demographics of the actual users and you'll see it's a lot more than just college kids on FB. I?m pushing 40 myself and for us ?old folks? it?s been a great way to connect with family who live far away, I wouldn?t call that narcissistic because my cousin, who lives on the other side of the US, posts pictures of her new baby often and I go on to check.
This Venn diagram explained it all a long time ago without even needing a study like this.

http://www.despair.com/somevedi.html
@grant@... PERFECT!
I'd say they hit the nail on the head...
0 Votes
+ -
lol..Thank God Its Friday
animageofmine1 10th Sep 2010
I was searching for some fun since its Friday. This one is perfect ! lol, I am not surprised, but still wonder, where do these guys who conclude this come from ? The don't understand that they are pointing over 500 million ppl on this planet. anyway, had a good time reading the article...:) thanks !
0 Votes
+ -
100 people?
OneTwoc21 10th Sep 2010
not much of a base considering the amount of people on facebook. seems like a much broader study needs to be done. Although that does fit the typical cliche profile i suppose. Hot girl doing hot pose. Tool lookin guy doin deuchy thing. whatever its all the same no matter where you go haha
Whomever wrote this article, you ought to be FIRED!

Can I have the minute and a half back that it took to
load this page and read it?!?

What a WASTE of 1s and 0s ...

You know, I've heard that about 9 out of 10 statistics are Wrong...
INCLUDING THIS One!

What is the actual PURPOSE of this article, anyway?

To spread Negativity against Facebook?

By any chance, did one of these Facebook Students
give you a bad comment on your blog or something?
@FirstBorn69 : Errr? Had a bad day. "I've heard that about 9 out of 10 statistics are Wrong." Maybe your stats are wrong. happy Funny how just about everyone in these messages have agreed. Write that in your FB page.
@Gis Bun Actually 9 out of 10 statistics are made up on the spot... it's true I just made that one up.
What a waste of time. Who cares? There are narcissists and people with low self esteem who aren't on facebook too. Why do they have to be labeled?
. . . I can't wait to see what they come up with for Twitter.
And this conclusion took a study? It seems rather obvious to anyone who took a few minutes to look at Facebook objectively. Being a nice guy, I'll throw in another bit of information to save the expense of another study: those who Twitter are self-centered twits.
Forget about Facebook. People in general are narcissistic and suffer from from low self-esteem, The oft-cited egomaniac with an inferiority complex.

Tom
LOL! I concur. Seems to me that so many uninteresting people are just 'joining' the facebook herd and desperately trying to show they do have something interesting going on in their lives, while they ignore the real people and conversations going on around them. How can real relationships be built or survive without face to face human interaction? Don't think we have evolved to that desperately sad level just yet. Thank God.
0 Votes
+ -
It amazes me how some people
Pete "athynz" Athens Updated - 14th Sep 2010
@strangefruit have this idea that people on facebook interact with each other solely on facebook. Where did this perception come from? I have a facebook, I've had it for quite some time and I have a bit over 200 friends on there - ALL of which I have interacted with in person over the many many moons I've been around... And most if not all of my friends on facebook are the same - they interact with their friends on facebook and offline as it were. Do I see those people every day? Every week? Every month? Some I do but it is rather hard for me to personally interact with a friend on facebook that lives on the west coast when I live on the east coast. Perhaps I'm different but to me facebook is simply a tool, a way to quickly interact with friends when things get a bit hectic at that time for a phone call or stopping by for a cup o joe (or an ice cold golden delicious beverage)... but sure go right on believing that people on facebook are nothing more than loners who communicate by keyboard alone...
0 Votes
+ -
good idea about facebook
gavin.chan 30th Sep
Good post, and I learn more about it. We supply various brands of camera and camcorder batteries, including Canon, Casio, Fuji, JVC, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sumsung and other brands. Buy Buy panasonic camera batteries from dealingway at wholesale price.057cn

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix