I think peoples' profiles on myspace and facebook are rather insightful. There have been several people who I thought seemed okay up until I saw their profile that was either covered with juvenile alcohol or soft porn. I especially have to chuckle over the people who post photos of themselves in their bra and underwear. I mean really?!

Definitely true. Although a lot of people give me flack for the great number of friends that I have, I have had more than a few conversations with the majority of the 800+ that I know. If I don't know the person, I go to school with them (tiny school -- 1,000 people! -- so it's not as bad as if I went to a large state school) so I never add random people I think are "hot". I'm definitely on Facebook a lot, but I know the majority of my friends on there enough to call them friends in real life. As for the pictures... I just take a lot of them! =)

@ karirohl, I DEFINITELY agree! Cover that stuff up... Nobody wants to see it, and you definitely don't want your future employers seeing all of that. Gosh.

its so true!

I was in the Navy, and my friends are scattered all over the world because of it. MySpace is an easy way for us to keep in touch without running up phone bills. I do post flattering pictures of myself, but so what! Why would I put ones of me looking awful?

hahaha my current profile picture is my dumbass friend passed out at a party. but yeah,i like myself. a lot. more than i should. i am vain and narcissistic with a huge ego, overly competitive and overachieving...and i will never deny it.

not sure i agree with this: "Also interesting is that social networks are more popular among narcissists"

i think that most young people have a facebook page in this day and age, and the people who do aren't necessarily narcissistic as much as the people who don't know they're not hot/successful/interesting

It could be useful in the case of Mondaymoos... but mostly I think it's a vain and pathetic attempt to get attention. It's a weird concept to self-promote unless you're selling something.

That is interesting. I agree that posting a flattering pic of yourself isn't narcissistic - who would upload an UNflattering pic to use as the default that pops up to show the world? However, when people take a series of 20 pictures that look like a comic strip of different facial expressions and angles with the camera held at arm's length...that is a big narcissistic, I think

And there's nothing wrong with having lots of friends. In this day and age, MySpace/Facebook/etc. often serves as kind of an electronic rolodex.

well research has finally found what I've always known to be true!

I know I must sound like a broken record, but I do not have a facebook or myspace page and to be honest, sugar is the only site that I use that I'd consider "social networking" (but it's really not, since you're not really connecting with your friends, but more of just blogging/commenting/meeting people/etc.)

Anyway, I think that a lot of people who use Facebook excuse themselves from it by saying it's "the only way" if you're in this age group to keep in touch. Well, it's really not. And I'm darn proud that my friends are all friends who I still talk to, meet up with, and email. Not poke on a random site for the world to see.

Plus of my friends who do have facebook or myspace, more often than not I hear them complaining about knowing things about people they don't want to keep in touch with...

mondaymoos and others, about the "posting a flattering pic" -- the article is stating that narcisstic people will post a glamourous or self-promotion photo of themselves (think arm-raised-taking-a-picture-of-yourself); rather than a silly snapshot of the perseon with friends or a picture that doesn't involve them in it at all! See the difference?

I believe that you can learn a lot about a person through their social network profile. I for sure won't put an ugly photo of me on my profile. But I see quite a lot of profiles filled with self-portraits (taken with their camera phone mostly) with seductive or trying-to-be-cute (for the lack of a better word) poses. It's interesting how a lot of these photos have similar poses.

LOL! OMG I couldnt agree more. I have not a single one of these weirdo things.

To each his own, but its just not my style.

I cant wait for these things to phase themselves out, or at least out of my generation.

I've taken self-pictures before, TidalWave... But usually it involves whatever hair color/cut I have this week... my best friend recently commented when we met up in Vegas that since I left Virginia she hasn't seen me with the same hairstyle two visits in a row.
That said... I do understand where the narcissim comments come from. I never really got why people put up half-naked pictures of themselves looking "sexy". THAT is an attention wh*re.

MySpace is just as bad, if not worse. It's insane. But what-ev I guess.

Some people, like me, live really far away from family and friends. It's one of the few ways I can really keep in touch with people. I email as well, but I find that Facebook makes me feel more connected with their daily lives (like if I still lived in the same town). It's been fantastic for me. It was also a great way to get back in touch with people I'd lost contact with.

For sure what one chooses to post online provides insight into their character narcissistic or not. I wouldn't think that was much of a revelation.

I use unflattering pictures of myself as my Facebook profile pic if I think they're funny. Either that or a picture of something else entirely. Don't know what that says about me.

It sure would be nice, however, if people could see their choice not to use social networking sites as just that, their choice instead of some kind of higher moral/intellectual ground.

True. Anybody with over 1000 photos (and oh, I know plenty of these people) just need to get over themselves. Also, if the vast majority of the photos are like, the person taking pictures of themselves in their webcam/mirror/whatever. I mean, everybody has a random fit of vanity or boredom from time to time, but it can definitely get excessive, and I tooootally will judge people based on their Facebook.

OK maybe "judge" is harsh, but you know what I mean. If your facebook represents you, and I think your facebook is childish and stupid, it might "accidentally" color my perceptions of that person.

Myspace should've been listed too. Hell, the whole article should've been about the former. Considering that it has far deviated from the original concept.

i don't understand the people that choose to bash social networking sites..i for one have one (facebook), i'm a college student i transfered between schools and that helps me stay connected to where i went prior..although i don't have a gajillion friends or pics..i'm happy to be able to see what my friends are up to along with whatever else they post.

I wish I could pigeon hole this on one generation but I know young and older who have just horridly inappropriate facebook/myspace sites.

On a side note, all of my clients do look you up when you apply for a job and also judge you by your email address sexy/hot/pixie/fairy/hottie/kitten@whatever.com- you know who you are.

Of course I put a kinda nice picture of me!! I'm not gonna use the worst pic of myself!!
But I don't think it makes me a "narcissic personn"!

i have friends who are so into facebook for the narcissistic reasons. Granted, everyone (myself included) has a facebook these days. However, not everyone uses it to add the person they met for 5 minutes at a party or the kid in class they never talk to.

I have a friend who writes on her like 1,000 friends' walls all the time and I suspect it's so she'll get a lot of replies on hers. I just can't find the time or motivation to do that all the time or even to upload photo albums. I guess I'm just more of a private person.

I dont agree with this! I love facebook but it really is just a method of keeping up with some old and new friends and even family lol

I do think there are people out there that are full of themselves and this is just another venue for them to display their love for themselves..but not all of us!

of course.. we finally found a place to flaunt our lives with the excuse that you just want to keep your friends in the loop! I'm definitely guilty of putting up cute pictures of myself, why would I put up an ugly one? just like at my picture on Sugarland... I'm a bloody show off... and proud of it too
:hugs: to all!

A lot of the photos I posted are those of friends and family..there aren't albums "dedicated" to me. So, that's a negative about being narcissic (sp? it looks weird). As for all of my friends...I work on an ambulance and have friends in ambulance, fire, police services throughout the state. I'm also in school which equates to more friends...

Your source link just goes to Getty, not the article.

Purly: look above at the text, see the words "really just narcissistic" are underlined?? that is a link to the article.

The word "source" means Sugar is crediting where the stock photo is from.

I don't agree with the whole "posting flattering photos of yourself" part. you wouldn't want your profile picture to be one that you look really bad in, so as long as it's a normal picture and you're not naked or anything, i don't think it's a big deal at all.

I would say that this is more true of myspace, but yeah. In my opinion, it's OK to have a "flattering" picture of yourself -- especially if it includes other friends, or was at least taken by a friend. Taking pictures of yourself is a slippery slope. If (like Mondaymoos says) it's just to show a new haircut/color/whatever, that's OK. But I have a friend who puts up a new picture nearly every day, and they're all the same formula: her with extremely detailed makeup (runway, almost), hair done up, flattering angles, and photoshopped to all hell. The hilarious part is, then she complains about "getting hit on by little 18 year old boys". Then why post the photos? Your friends know you are pretty; who are you trying to impress?