The New Narcissism

You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
I’ll bet you think this song is about you

Don’t you? Don’t you?

You know this profile is about you. About you. About you. About you. Looks like pedophiles and film critics aren’t the only dysfunctional personalities hanging out on social networking websites. A study published in the October 2008 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reports that narcissists are all over Facebook and they are easy to pick out. No, it isn’t because they kept giving themselves gifts and joining Fans of Paris Hilton. Researchers at the University of Georgia studying Facebook discovered that the number of friends and wall posts that a person had in the virtual world correlated with how narcissistic they were in the real world.

According to the research, normal people behave on Facebook in the same way that they behave anywhere else. They socialize, post photos, invite you to events, chat, and so on, and so forth, but to narcissists Facebook is just another tool for self promotion. We’ve all been wondering about the implications of social networking and easy virtual friendships, but the good news seems to be that most people can tell the difference between online acquaintances and friends in the real world. The bad news is that virtual friendships can be disposable friendships if the price is right.

In January Burger King in a promotion called Delete Ten Friends Get a Whopper offered to give a free Whopper to anyone who deleted 10 of their friends on Facebook. The Delete Ten Friends campaign resulted in the severing of 233, 906 friendships. Not everyone who was deleted had a sense of humor about it and Burger King kept the ball rolling with “Whopper Sacrifice” where deleted Facebook friends could log on and fire back angry-grams against their former friends. (BTW the value of the Whopper coupon was 37 cents. OUCH.)

You’re So Vain was a blockbuster hit for Carly Simon in 1973. Today it is considered one of her most memorable tunes and is listed at #72 on Billboard’s Greatest Hits of All Time. The song has always been a bit of a mystery and guesses about the subject of the song have ranged from James Taylor to Warren Beatty. The smart money has always been on Mick Jagger.

Simon has refused to confirm or deny who is actually so vain. but she has dropped a few hints over the years giving up three letters A–E and R that she says are in the legendary narcissist’s name. That leaves Jagger and Beatty in the game. Beatty is adamant that the song is about him. About him. About him...

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