In Don Tapscott’s book, Grown Up Digital, Tapscott shows some of the negative associations scholars associate with the youth of today. Although Tapscott does not agree with the issues presented, they are very valid and have raised much concern. Tapscott expresses the views of Jean Twenge, a professor who studies narcisim. Twenge reviewed the results of the Narcissitic Personality Inventory given to college students over the years. She believes that there is a definite increase of Narcisism among students from 1980 to 2005. One of the main characteristics Jean Twenge focuses on is narcisism in the Net Generation caused by the internet. She believes that there is a direct corelation between technology and the increase of narcisim. She believes that social internet sites promote narcisim because they are “attention seeking.”
I have mixed feelings on Twenge’s views. I think that the internet certainly does not help narcisim in any way, but on the same token, I do not think that technology is the source of narcisim in my generation. Social networking sites are there to stay connected with your friends who you would not stay in contact with otherwise. Certainly, some people look into sites like Facebook and take them to another level in terms of narcisim, but that could just be their personality. Therefore, I believe that if anything, social networking shows who is narcisitic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree that the Internet does not cause narcissism, even the social networking sites. I've read most of Jean Twenge's book called Generation Me. She does think the Internet encourages those who are, shall we say, into themselves, but she puts the main blame for the narcissim "epidemic" on the schools' promotion of kids' self-esteem. She accuses the schools of telling each student that they are "special" so everybody grows up thinking they are entitled to special treatment. I've seen some of this, but it's nowhere near an epidemic.
ReplyDelete