New Narcissism

1. "New Narcissism" is a modern phenomenon, text 1 gives a very detailed description of the phenomenon. The author of text 1 presents Britney Spears as a self-destructive individual, who is a victim of the paradoxical development of our modern culture. But Britney isn’t the main focus point in this matter. It’s the Britney-obsessive Chris Crocker who draws his attention. Chris Crocker is known for crying like a mentally sick baby and howling: “leave Britney alone”, into a camera. He’s known for this particular quote, because he uploaded his video on the popular website, YouTube. The video has been watched more than 12 million times, by people from all over the world. But Chris didn't feel sorry for Britney, what so ever, he just wanted to obtain a lot of attention and become a celebrity.
Chris got his 15 minutes of fame and a few days later Chris Crocker announced, he was in the process of making a new reality show on national television.
This is a great example of new narcissism, Chris intentionally tries to get attention on Britney’s account, a very selfish and egocentric act and that is what new narcissism is all about.
Narcissism is when you only think of yourself and your own needs exclusively. It’s when your self-esteem becomes a burden for others, it’s when you’re so self obsessed that you’re unable to see anything else but your own reflection.

2. Text 2 is written by Janice McDuffee, she begins her article by categorizing the college students as arrogant and self-enhanced individuals. She builds her theory on facts, developed in studies by psychologists from all over the country. Janice seems to be very reliable in her interview with the lead author, professor Jean Twenge of San Diego University, who has written a book based on her studies.
Professor Jane Twenge vindicates Janice McDuffee's theory, because her studies of the narcissism among the college students has shown, that child - rearing are to blame. The parents should quit coddling their children, otherwise this abnormal rearing is going to lead to a lot of egoistic and narcissistic individuals, with far too high expectations to the society.

Text 3 is written by Catherine West. She has interviewed the former president Jimmy Carter, who is a former professor, at Emory University. Jimmy Carter rejects the theory, concerning the youth becoming more narcissistic than ever before. He claims that no research, supports the notion about the increasing numbers of narcissists, among the new generation.
Three psychologists, from University of Western Ontario, have neither found any evidence pointing at increasing levels of narcissism, when they compared the statistics from 1996 and 2007.
So these results are far from identical compared to previous researches, where the level of narcissism was increasing among the college students.

After reading text 2 and 3, it’s clear to me that the two articles contradict each other. Text 2 claims the level of narcissism has been increasing, during the past three decades. While these tendencies doesn’t exist, according to text 3.
I think the psychologists, from The University of Western Ontario (text 3), maybe are employed under U.S. government. They can present the statistics and their personal analyses, as the government and politicians desire. U.S.A. has an enormous entertainment lobby and the politicians have great interest in preserving their seats in it. So the lobby’s explains why the politicians want to withhold some information, on this particular subject. If conspicuously data were to become public, citizens could demand removal of various commercials and shows from TV and the lobbyists would loose a great amount of money and power.
I therefore conclude the presented views, on narcissism in text 3, to be unreliable. Instead I agree with Janice McDuffee’s theory (text 2), because her analyze of the phenomenon, new narcissism, is not affected by a politicians hidden interests – and therefore much more reliable.

3. My opinion on websites, like Facebook and MySpace, is that they are great tools of communication, if they’re used correctly. Facebook and MySpace help people connecting and socialize, all over the world.
I don't have a profile on MySpace, but I do have one on Facebook, and it’s a very helpful application in my everyday. But the sites can quickly turn very narcissistic, if used incorrectly. Especially Facebook has a lot of powerful possibilities, in terms of narcissism.
A lot of people abuse Facebook by slandering on their friends, bulling others by their appearance or racial background. Some girls even publish very challenging photos, in order to get some attention and comments from men. Many people use their status updates, on Facebook, to profile themselves and show of, again with the single purpose of creating more attention towards themselves.
You could say it’s the managers of these sites, responsibility to prevent and solve these problems and conflicts. But it’s simply impossible to control such gigantic networks, it can’t be done I’m afraid.