Facebook, Narcissism And The Decline Of Western Civilization - by Rahoul Duke

Everyone knows about Facebook or at least everyone reading this article, and most people know the story of how 19-year-old Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his college dorm room while attending Harvard.

The site essentially began as an online student directory making its internet debut on Feb. 4, 2004. Originally called "Thefacebook," it was an instant sensation. Within four days, more than 650 students had registered.

After one month, the number of registered members reached 10,000. And now, more than six years later, close to 500 million people worldwide actively use the site.

One out of twelve people on the planet actively use Facebook. That's more than the populations of the United States, Canada and Mexico combined.

Fewer people, to be sure, are familiar with the Greek myth of Narcissus which is ironic because one of the basic human frailties that the story was intended to warn about plays a key role in what motivates us to frequent social networking sites.

Narcissus is a hunter in Greek mythology who was renowned for being one of the most handsome men ever. While out hunting one day, Narcissus stopped at a pond to get a drink. Leaning over the pond he saw his reflection for the first time (I guess there were no mirrors back then) and he immediately fell madly in love with it not realizing that it was only an image and not a real person.

Unable to bear the thought of tearing himself away from the beautiful image staring back from the pond, Narcissus continued to fall more deeply in love with the illusion he could not recognize. Ultimately, he wasted away to death, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection.

Narcissus died of languor because he became so enamored with his own perception of himself that he was unable to do anything else but obsess on it, and one can only hope that the average Facebook junkie doesn't share the same fate.

So, is the social interaction facilitated by Facebook the same as the "real" thing, or is it perpetuating the loneliness and lack of actual human interaction that it is sought after by many to alleviate?

Of main concern is the illusionary or false intimacy fostered by Facebook and other social networking sites. Rather than sharing real experiences with actual people, we're spending more and more time in a virtual world where, like Narcissus, we become increasingly captivated by the image of ourselves that we want to believe.

Bragging about our vacations, posting pictures of ourselves at parties, raising imaginary farm animals together and otherwise trying to create the type of life and persona that we want other people in our virtual world to see and believe.

"I wonder how electronic (virtual) relationships will ultimately impact actual relationships for people who use Facebook and other social networking sites" says psychotherapist Angela Carney who treats "Facebook junkies" (people who can't control how frequently they use social networking sites).

"As a psychotherapist, I hear horror stories from young people about the dramas that unfold from Facebook use. It becomes addictive. I've seen people end relationships becasue of things they found out on Facebook and more often protract hurt after the relationship ends" Carney contiinued.

"I've seen so many disappointed people who screened for the "perfect match" on MATCH.COM or E-HARMONY, only to find that the person on the other side bears no resemblance to the person represented" Carney concludes.

Also of concern is the way that Facebook and other social networking sites share and protect our personal information. A 2009 story in Wired magazine on Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, outlined Zuckerberg's plans to "colonize" the Web.

Author David Kirkpatrick spent a considerable amount of time with Zuckerberg while writing his new book The Facebook Effect.

"He (Zuckerberg) sees the world as moving very rapidly toward transparency and very rapid sharing of data between individuals in all sorts of ways, on and off Facebook," Kirkpatrick says. "And from the day he first created his system, he had this ethos of sharing that he strongly believed in."

For Zuckerberg, that belief means sharing everything. He disagrees with the notion that people have different identities. To him, the idea that someone is different at work than at home, than at a rock concert, is dishonest. Says Kirkpatrick,

"He believes that he will live a better life personally, and all of us will be more honest, and ultimately it will be better for the world if we dispense with that belief."

Sharing everything, though, can get users into trouble. At least 30 percent of employers have rejected applicants because of things they've found on Facebook and other social networks, Kirkpatrick says. He gives examples of people who have made some big Facebook mistakes, like jurors who post information about the trials they're involved in, or a prison guard who "friends" prisoners.

There's also the problem of what's known as "peer-to-peer" privacy violations. While users may not be posting information about themselves, their friends and family are — and many times, it's information that people might not want out there. Shortly after the new head of the British intelligence service was named, it came to light that his wife had been using Facebook to post pictures of their children and details that could reveal his home address.