SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM:ANEXAMINATIONOFBLOGS

BYB‐LISTCELEBRITIES

AThesissubmittedtoSouthernUtahUniversity

inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeof

MasterofArtsinMassCommunication

April2012By

BrockThomasBybee

ThesisCommittee:

KevinStein,PhD,Chair

MatthewBarton,PhD

ArthurChallis,PhD

SocialMediaNarcissism:AnexaminationofblogsbyB‐listcelebrities

BrockThomasBybee

Dr.KevinStein,ThesisSupervisor

ABSTRACT

Thebirthofsocialmediaintoourcultureissomethingthathasdrasticallyaltered

thecommunicationpatternsofhumanbehavior.Fifteenyearsago,welivedina

worldthatlimitedtheamountofhumaninteractionsthatcouldoccuronadaily,

weekly,monthly,andannualbasis.Attimes,socialnetworkingisaconstantbarrage

ofopinionsandideasbeingformulatedontheWorldWideWebthatinturncould

triggeraresponseoffeedbackfromaviewer.Thiscanbedoneinanattempttogain

popularityandattentionfromthepeoplethatweinteractwithonline.Buffardi

(2008)lookedatthedifferentassociationsthatnarcissisticpersonalitydisorder

(NPD)haswithsocialmedia.ThosewhosufferfromNPDaredistinguishedtohave

numerouscontacts,butthatthoserelationshipsremainshallowandimmaturely

developed.Thereisalsothedevelopmentofarelationshipwithanindividualfor

thebettermentandself‐preservationofone’scharacterintheirowneyes.This

studyanalyzesspecificblogs,andidentifiesparticulartraitsandfeaturesofan

individualwhomayinfactsufferfromNPD,andtheninturnportraythosefeatures

ontheirblogs.

Keywords:Narcissism,Blogging,SocialMedia

Acknowledgements

ThereareanumberofpeoplewhoIamgratefulfor,andwhodeservemore

thanjustaparagraphsummaryofacknowledgements.ToDr.KevinStein,mythesis

chair,thankyouforyourdirectionandcriticalthinkingonthistopic,yourhelpwas

integraltothisevengettingoffthedrawingboard.Tomycommitteemembers,Dr.

MatthewBarton,Dr.BrianHeuett,andDr.ArthurChallis,thankyouforyour

insights,yourperspectives,andyourcooperationthroughoutallofthis.Toallofthe

beautifulwomeninmylife;mymother,mysisters,andmyGrandmother,thankyou

fortheloveandadmirationthatyou’vegivenmesincedayone.Andfinally,tomy

Grandfather,youhavebeenandalwayswillbe,thedrivingforcethatpushesmeto

becomeabetterman.Thankyouforbeingmymotivation.

TableofContents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….i

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………ii

Chapter

1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..1

2.LiteratureReview……………………………………………………………………………10

a.SocialNetworking…………………………………………………………………10

b.Blogging……………………………………………………………………………….11

c.Narcissism……………….…………………………………………………………….15

3.Methods……………………………………………………………………………………………21

a.ContentAnalysis……………………………………….………………………………21

b.CodingProcess…………………………………………………………………………22

c.ParticipantsoftheAnalysis………………………………………………………24

d.SelectedTextsusedintheAnalysis…………………………………………26

4.Results…………………………………………………………………………………………….…29

a.SelfPraise……………………………………………………………………………….29

b.CelebrityStatus…………………...…………………………………………………..32

c.HighProfileRelationships…...……………………………………………………37

d.Mobility…………………………………………………………………………………..39

e.UniqueInterpretationofReality………………………..……………………..42

f.Amorous…………………………………………………………………………………..45

5.Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………….47

a.Limitations………………………………………………………………………………55

b.TheoreticalContributions………………………………………………………...56

c.FutureStudies……………………………………………………………………….…58

References………………………………………..……………………………………………………61

a.AppendixA………………………………………………………………………………71

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Chapter1:IntroductionandRationale

InOctoberof1998,BruceAblesonlaunchedoneofthepremiersocial

networkingsitescalledOpenDiary.com,orinhisownwords“thefirstwebsitethat

broughtonlinediarywriterstogetherintoacommunity”(Lulu,2005).Thesitegave

onlinewriterstheabilitytoconnectanddocumentanythingandeverythingthat

theywanted,transformingtheartofrecordkeepingtotheonlineforumwhereit

reststoday.OpenDiaryhasnowhostedoverhalfamilliononlinediariesontheir

site,andcontinuestogrowwithmorereadership(WashingtonPost,2007).

SixmonthsafterOpenDiary’sintroduction,BradFitzpatrickstartedupLive

Journal.com,asimilarsocial‐networkingsite(SNS),mainlycreatedtohelp

Fitzpatrickkeepincontactwithlong‐losthighschoolfriendsandassociates.This

sitefollowedsimilarsuccesspatternsthatOpenDiarydid,andbytheendof2011,

LiveJournalwashosttoover1.8millionactiveusers(LiveJournal,2012).

InAugustof1999,EvanWilliamsandMegHourihanintroducedblogger.com,

anotherparallelsitetothepreviouslymentionedthatgaveonlinesurfersthe

opportunitytopublishinasimilarfashionasbothOpenDiaryandLiveJournal.com.

Blogger.comwouldlaterbeboughtoutandhostedbyGoogleunderasub‐domain

nameofblogspot.com,andiscurrentlyoneofthemostpopularandupdatedblog‐

hostingsitesontheentireweb,currentlythe10thmosttraffickedwebsiteinthe

UnitedStates,(Alexa,2012)allowinguserstotime‐stamptheirentriesandpublish

asfrequentlyastheywish.

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Socialnetworkingtookagiantleapforwardin2004whenMarkZuckerberg

designedFacebook.com,whichoriginallywasthespawnofasimplewebsite

Facemash.com,aratingswebsitegivingstudentsathisIvyLeagueinstitutionthe

abilitytotransformtheironlinepersonasbyclicking“yes”or“no”onwhetherthey

thoughttheimageofafellowclassmatewasphysicallyattractiveornot.Overtime

Facemash.comevolvedintoFacebook.com,oneofthemostsuccessfulSocial

NetworkingSitesavailabletothepublic.Withover800millionregisteredaccounts

onFacebook(LATimes,2011),thiswebsiteissomethingthathasbecomea

commonuseforthegeneralpublic.Itisestimatedthat41.6%oftheAmerican

populationcurrentlyhasaFacebookaccount(SocialMediaToday,2011).

Thesefourwebsiteshaveallbeenmonumentalinthegrowthofsociety’s

opportunitytoarticulateandcommunicatewithoneanother,andexpressthoughts

andopinionstomillionsoffellowusersacrosstheglobe.Thiscanbeseenbythe

massivegrowthinusersofFacebookoveritshistory.AsofAugust2008,Facebook

hadjustover100millionusers(Zuckerberg,2008).Ayearandahalflater,that

numberhadquadrupledinsizetoover400millionusers(Facebook,2010).Thisis

justoneexampleofhowprevalentandwidespreadsocialnetworkinghasbecome.

Thesefourwebsiteshavemonopolizedonayoungerdemographic’shungerfora

simplerandlessobstructedwaytointeractonline.Thiscanbeseenbyoffshoot

socialnetworkingsitesthathavebeenintroducedtothegeneralpublicinrecent

years.WebsitessuchasFoursquare,LinkedIn,Gowalla,andGooglePlus,are

consideredemergingtrendswithdifferentspinsonsocialnetworkingsuchasGPS‐

locationupdatesbymobilephonesandgroupmessagingservicestothosewhoarea

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partofthesamesocialnetworkorwebsite.Thesefourwebsitesmayhavealso

engineeredasubconsciousgrowthofnarcissisticegosthatkeepsfuelingthematan

alarmingrate.Arecentsurveyin2011,showedthat47%ofallAmericansareapart

ofatleastoneormoresocialnetworkingwebsites(SocialMediaToday,2011).

Thebirthofsocialmediaintoourcultureissomethingthathasdrastically

alteredthecommunicationpatternsofhumanbehavior.Fifteenyearsago,welived

inaworldthatlimitedtheamountofhumaninteractionsthatcouldoccuronadaily,

weekly,monthly,andannualbasis.Thoselimitswereinstilledpriortothebirthof

suchtoolsascellulartelephones,textmessaging,andtheInternet,whichovernight

increasedthenumberofinteractionsthatwecouldhavewithanotherhumanbeing.

Priortothisdigitalcommunicationoverload,thepeoplethatwecouldsurround

ourselveswithonaninterpersonallevelwereintheorytheonlyoutletsthatwehad

forhumaninteraction.Thesporadiclong‐distancetelephonecalltoaremote

relativeorahighschoolassociateseemedtobetheextentofourfurthest

communication.However,oncedigitalcommunicationbecamemoreprevalent,and

moreandmorepeoplebegantoownsmartphones,textmessagingservices,IM

usernamesandFacebookaccounts,thosebarswereliftedandcommunication

begantoflourishdigitally.

ThedevelopmentoftheInternetmayhavehadaninfluenceinour

interpersonalbehaviorsbecauseoftheremovalofboundaries,suchasdistance,that

weremadeforourgeneralcommunicationpatterns.However,online

communicationforasubstantialperiodoftimewasheadedonlyinonedirection.

BarbaraKaye(2005)pointsthisoutinheranalysisoftheInternet:“Althoughsome

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Webpagesmaycontaininteractivecomponents,suchase‐mailandonlinepolls,the

Webislargelyaone‐waysourceofinformation”(p.75).Thisideastemmedfrom

priorresearchdonebyLinandJeffres(1998)discussinghowInternetusersdonot

havethecapabilitytointeractwithasiteontheWeb,however,theoptionofbeing

abletopostlinksfromonesitetoanothergivestheuserstheabilitytoconnectwith

oneanother,givingthemaslightformoftwo‐wayInternetcommunication.

Theadoptionofelectronicmail,Internetchatrooms,bulletinboards,and

onlineforumsbegantopavethewayfortheconceptoftwo‐waycommunication

amongusers,withtheabilitytointeractwithindividualsthousandsofmilesaway

bytheclickofamousecombinedwithafewquickstrikesuponakeyboard.The

developmentanduseofonlinechatroomsandinstantmessagingassistedthe

streamliningoftwo‐waycommunicationthroughoutthelate90’s.Software

programssuchasYahooIMandMSNMessengerarestilloperatedbyover330

millionactiveusers(WLMT,2009).

Two‐wayInternetcommunicationcontinuedtoflourishwiththeinfluxof

socialmediawebsitessuchasMyspace,FacebookandTwittergivingusersthe

abilitytoconnectandcommunicateaboutpeoplewhotheyarefollowingandvice

versa.Weblogging,wherevoicedopinionsaretransposedinto1’sand0’sgiving

authorstheopportunitytobeheardbyusersandonlineparticipantshasfolloweda

similarpatternwiththedimensionsoftwo‐wayonlinecommunication,byallowing

participantsthechancetoprovidetheirownpersonalfeedbackaboutablogpost

thattheyhavejustreadorseen.Auniquenessaboutbloggingthatdiffersfromthe

abovementionedsocialnetworkingsitesisthatthelayoutisnotinthefashion

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whereitisapublicforumwhereeveryonewitnessesallofthethoughts,status

updatesandtweetsthatareposted.Bloggerstendtohaveaparticularnumberof

readerstotheirindividualsites,andifsomeonegoestoaspecificblog,morethan

likelyitwillnothavebeenfoundbychance.Theusersmayinfactbespecific

subscriberstotheauthorofthatblog,andareconsistentlyfollowingthepostsof

thatblog.Theyinturnmayormaynotgivetheirownpersonalfeedbacktoanyof

theblogpoststhattheyread,orchestratingboundariesandlimitsbetween

themselvestheaudience,andtheblogger.

Theinclinationsthatcontrolourbehaviorsareself‐imposedrefusalsto

respondtoatextmessage,ortonotrespondnegativelyorpositivelytoaperson’s

FacebookstatusorTweet.Thoselimitationsallowbloggingtobeviewedinboth

dimensionsofonlinediscussion.Kaye(2005)supportsthisideathatweblogshave

theversatilityofbeingbothone‐wayandtwo‐waystylesofcommunication.

Attimes,socialnetworkingisaconstantbarrageofopinionsandideasbeing

formulatedontheWorldWideWebthatinturntriggersanaturalresponseof

feedbackfromaviewer.Thiscanbedoneinanattempttogainpopularityand

attentionfromthepeoplethatweinteractwithonline.Aperson’sself‐esteemcould

beboostedordepreciatedbytheamountofattentionthattheirdigitalpersonais

receivingonaconsistentbasis.Thismaybealteredbytheamountofpeoplethat

arefollowingtheirblog,orbythenumberofcommentsthattheyhaveontheir

latesttweet.Thesurplusofsocialnetworkingmayinfacthaveledustofollowa

patternofapotentiallyegotisticalsocietythatisfueledbyattentionfromothers.

Dye(2007)suggeststhattheintroductionofthesesocialmediadeviceshascreated

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agenerationwhocreatetheiridentitiesbytheamountofInternetconnectionsthey

haveandonlinecontenttheyareabletoaccess.ThisSNS‐dictatedgenerationcould

possiblybevictimsofinducedNarcissisticPersonalityDisorder(NPD)becauseof

thoseconnectionsandcontent.

Buffardi(2008)lookedintothedimensionsofhownarcissismandsocial

networkingmayinfactbeconnected.Threedistinctassociationsofnarcissismare

discussed:First,thepositiveassociationthatnarcissismhaswiththeformationof

relationships.Itisnotedthatnarcissiststendtobeactivelyengagedinestablishing

connectionswithpeoplethattheycomeincontactwithonaconsistentbasis.

Second,thenegativeassociationthatnarcissismhaswiththedevelopmentofthose

relationshipsthathavelong‐termpotential,orthathave“qualitiesofcloseness,

empathy,oremotionalwarmth”(p.1304).ThosewhosufferfromNPDare

distinguishedtohavenumerouscontacts,butthatthoserelationshipsremain

shallowandimmaturelydeveloped.Finally,thereistheassociationthatan

individualwithNPDwillusetheirrelationshipsasachancetobuilduponself‐

enhancementstrategies.Thisisseenasthereasoningforanykindofrelationship,

forthebettermentandself‐preservationofone’scharacterintheirowneyes.

Thosethreespecifictraitsofnarcissismcanbecorrelatedwiththefeatures

ofsocialnetworking.Socialnetworkingcanbepositivelyassociatedwiththe

formationofonlinerelationships.Individualsmayseekoutpastassociatesonline,

andtryandmakenewfriendsthroughtheInternet,meanwhiletheirSNSkeeps

trackofhowmanycontactsthattheyhave.Socialnetworkingcanalsobenegatively

associatedwiththedevelopmentofthosespecificrelationships.Thereasoning

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behindthisisbecausethemajorityofcontactsarefrequentedonlybyonline

connections,leavingverylittleorifanyinterpersonalandemotionalqualitiesto

develop,itisdifficultforsomeonetohaveaonlinerelationshipmatureand

progress.Finally,socialnetworkingcanbeassociatedwiththeopportunityforself‐

enhancementstrategies.Thiscanbeseenbystatusupdatesaboutminor

achievements,blogpostsaskingforaudiencefeedbackaboutlifestylesituations,or

tweetsaboutthebeautificationofone’sphysicaloremotionalcharacter.

Buffardisupportsthecomparisonbetweennarcissismandsocialnetworking

beinganenvironmentforpeopletoinstitutenumeroussuperficialrelationshipsthat

arecalculatedandnumberedonaperson’sprofile.Shealsopointsouthowsocial

networkingwebsitesarevery“controlled”settings.Shewrites,“Ownershave

completepoweroverself‐presentationonWebpages,unlikemostothersocial

contexts.Inparticular,onecanusepersonalWebpagestoselectattractive

photographsofoneselforwriteself‐descriptionsthatareself‐promoting”(p.1304).

Today,bloggingmayevenbelookedatasanopportunityforthedevelopment

ofNPDamongsocialnetworkingparticipants.Amajorityofauser’sfollowersof

theirweblogstendtobepersonalfriendsandacquaintancesthathaveknownthem

beforethepublicationoftheirblogs,andarefollowingthembecausethey

appreciatethevalueoftheirpostings,orforsimplecommoncourtesy.Therehave

howeverbeenstrategiesandtechniquesinthebloggingatmosphereputtouseso

thatthenumberoffollowersofanindividual’sblogwillincreasedramaticallymore

thanjusttheirnormalnumberoffriends.

Forexample,therehasbeentheconstructionofindependentblogawards,

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whereanunknownuserwillpostalinktoaperson’sblogabouthowtheyvalueand

appreciatethatblogpost,andthattheyfeeltheyaredeservingofablogaward.The

usermaythenfollowthelinkandretrievethatbadgetopostontheirpersonalblog.

Insomeinstances,therecipientmayonlybeabletoreceivetheawardifthey

formallyfollowtheperson’sblogwhoawardedittothem,whichinsomeinstances

canbeseenasatactictogeneratetraffictoasite.

Anothertechniquethatisusedbybloggerstoattainfollowersisthe

followingofrandomandunknownblogsofusersacrosstheInternet.Ifonefollows

anotherperson’sblog,itisassumedthattheyinturnwillfollowtheblogthatyou

aretheauthorof,almosttoshowsignsofrespectandconsiderationforthediligence

thatonehadinbeingapartofthebloggingworld.Ultimately,theendresultof

thesetechniquesistohaveanincreaseintheamountoftrafficthatgoestoa

person’sblog.Thiscouldbeformonetaryvaluethatisgeneratedbycompanies

suchasAdSense,whichreturnsearningstoanindividualbyallowing

advertisementsupontheirblog.Themoretrafficandhitsthataperson’sblog

receives,themorerevenuetheyarethenlikelytoreceiveaswell.Thesetechniques

mayinfactalsobecarriedoutbecauseoftheneedformorefollowersofaperson’s

blogtosatisfytheirNPDcharacteristics.Theincreaseinself‐enhancementand

numerousshallowrelationshipscanbeassociatedwithtechniquesthatwilldrive

traffictoaperson’sblog,thusgrowingthepsychologicalgratifications.

Theintentofthisstudyistoanalyzespecificweblogsandidentifyparticular

traitsandfeaturesofanindividualwhomayinfactsufferfromNPD,andthenin

turnportraythosefeaturesontheirblogs.Theintentofthisstudywillalsobe

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 9

lookingtoseeiftherehasbeenadevelopmentinthetypeofNPDtraitsthathave

existedfromtheprimarycreationofablog,tothemostrecentandupdated

blogpost.

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Chapter2:LiteratureReview

Therearethreedifferenttopicsthatwillbereviewedthatarepertinentto

thestudyitself:Thedevelopmentandinfluenceofsocialnetworking,thespecific

socialnetworkingchannelofblogging,andthedefinitionsandtraitsofnarcissism.

SocialNetworking

Socialnetworkinghastakenovertheonlinecommunicationrealm,notonly

fromageneralentertainmentperspective,butalsofromabusiness,publicrelations,

marketing,andadvertisingperspectiveaswell.Vorvoreanu(2009)discussedhow

Facebook.comhasbecomeanaturalpartoftheonlineculture.Ellis(2010)backed

the“natural”ideaofFacebookbydiscussinghowFacebookplaysakeyroleinthe

constructionofsocialcharacter,lookingatthesheervolumeofdigitalidentitiesand

Facebookprofilesthathaverisenannually.

Howpeopleusethesedigitalpersonalitiestoconducttheirlivesissomething

thatSelwyn(2009)analyzedwhenhemonitoredthelivesof909studentsinthe

U.K.toseehowmuchoftheirFacebookwall‐timewasspentfocusingstrictlyon

academicandeducationalpurposes.Bosch(2009)dovetailedthepurposesof

Facebookintotheeducationalspherebydoingananalysisonprofessorsand

studentsattheUniversityofCapeTown,andhowtheywereabletoexchange

information,andfurthertheireducationalexperienceusingthissocialnetwork.She

didfindthattherewasadifficultyinachievingsomeofthehighestresults,because

ofthedeficiencyofinformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)intelligence

andtheamountofaccesstimethatbothteacherandstudenthadtoFacebookitself,

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 11

meaningthatthedatacouldnothavebeenlookedatproperlybecauseofthelackof

monitoringoftimeandcontent.

Mazer,MurphyandSimonds(2009),conductedaquantitativeanalysistosee

howstudentsperceivetheirteacherscomparedtotheamountofself‐disclosurethat

occursonFacebook.Thecommunicationskillsthatareseenbetweenateacherand

astudentarejustoneofthedimensionswhenitcomestothecommunicationinany

interpersonalrelationship.SheldonandHoneycutt(2009)conductedananalysisof

studentswhohaveadifficulttimecommunicatingoffline.TheyfoundthatFacebook

hasbecomeanoutletforthosewhoarelookingtojust“passtime.”

Communicationinthesocialnetworkingworld,morespecificallyinthe

aspectofrelationshipformationandmaintenanceissomethingthatwasstudiedby

SteinfeldandLampe(2009),intheirquantitativeanalysisquestioningthereasoning

behindpeople’susageofFacebookandothersocialnetworks.Theirconclusionwas

thatSocialNetworkingSites(SNS)allowstudentsandyouthtoformfriendshipsand

relationshipsdespitethelackofnonverbalcommunication.

Blogging

AlongwithFacebookandonlineinteraction,anotherdimensionofSocial

NetworkingSitesistheconceptofblogging.Initially,whenblogs,orWeblogswere

firstcreated,therewerequestionsabouttheirpurpose,andwhatdrovepeopletobe

activelyengagedinreadingandwritingthem.Kaye(2005)wasoneofthefrontier

investigatorstofindthereasoningbehindthem,andpioneeredtheideathatthere

weresixmainmotivesforblogusage:informationseeking,personalconvenience,

personalfulfillment,politicalsurveillance,socialsurveillance,aswellasthe

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expressionandaffiliationtoaspecifictopic.Kayealsofoundthatdemographically,

themainusersandrecordersofblogs,werewhitemaleswithahigherincome.

Thosedemographicswereinsimilarcognitionwithpreviousstudiesdoneon

Weblogusage(Greenspan,2003;Levy,2002;Rainie,Fox,andFallows,2003;Seipp,

2002).

Nelson(2006)lookedattheblogpublishingindustryincomparisontothe

historicallycommonbookpublishingindustryandfoundthenumberswere

overwhelminglyinfavorofonlinediatribesandrhetoricbeingpublishedonline

eachyear.Nelsoncalledthosewhoblog,“influencers”whohavethecapabilityof

spreadingavastamountofinformationacrossthewavesoftheInternetwithout

needingalegalpublishinglicenseandjumpthroughallofthehoopstogettheir

wordsintheearsandmindsoftheirreaders.Docter(2010)alsodiscussedthelegal

issuesandboundariesthatexistwhenapersonisblogging,orcoveringastoryfrom

ajournalisticperspective.Argumentsastowhetherjournalismprivilegesshouldbe

giventopersonalbloggershavebeenarguedbackandforthpertainingtothe

disclosureofinformation.

Ekdale,Kang,Fung,andPerlmutter,(2010)questionedthemotivesforour

societytouseblogstocommunicatefromapersonallevel,aswellasapoliticallevel

also.Thesemotiveswerealsoquestionedwhenvariousotherresearchersactively

studiedthelogisticsandreasoningbehindblogusageinmanydifferentfieldsof

study.Marken(2005)wrote“Blogsprovidemanagementafast,effective,and

economicmeansofcarryingouttwo‐waycommunicationwithmanyaudiences.”(p.

31).Tola(2008)agreed,advocatingtheusageofblogsinthecurrentworldstating

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that“bloggingisnotthefutureanymore,itisthepresent”(p.1).Allofthesestudies

anddiscussions,whetherpolitical,orscientific,oreconomicallyfocusedagreedthat

blogsweretheupandcomingwayforpeopletocommunicate‐viatheInternet.

Fromaninterpersonalcommunicationpointofview,StefanoneandChyng‐

Yang,(2007)lookedattheusageofblogsandhowtheyrelatedtomotivatinggoals

thataresetbybloggers.Samplingagroupofstudents,theyquestionedtheamount

ofextraversionandself‐disclosurethattookplaceamongtheminordertogain

popularityandinterpersonalrelationshipswiththegroupofpeoplewho“followed”

theirrespectiveblogs.Bortree(2005)analyzedelementsofself‐disclosureby

comparingthegender‐basedaverageamountofinformationthatwasrevealedfrom

anindependentbloggertotheiraudience.Ellis(2010)alsocomparedthelevelsof

apprehensionbetweenthegenders,inmoreofanacademiclightinherstudyofthe

amountofpersonalinformationdisclosedinblogs.

Buechler(2010)studiedtheacademicpurposeofblogusagebothinandout

oftheclassroom,discussinghowtheyhelpedhimcommunicateanddiscuss

academictopicswithhisstudentsmuchmoreeffectively.Intheclassroom,blog

usagewasseenasapositiveaidasBuechlerstatedthatblogsservedasanexcellent

tooltofacilitategroupdecision‐making(p.442).Smith(2010)alsoexaminedthe

blogcontentofhisstudentsconcludingthatpeopledescribetheirownindividual

selvesandpersonalitiestoaworldthattheyaresemi‐unfamiliarwith,thatworld

beingtheforumofInternetblogging.

Fromaculturalperspective,Chen(2010)analyzedthepresentationofone’s

selfinablog,comparingTaiwanandJapaneseblogsandtheamountofinformation

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thatwasself‐disclosedtotheiraudiencesaswell.Lövheim(2011)observedthe

popularityofblogusage,studyingthecommercialandprofessionalinfluxofcontent

onthemostpopularblogs,comparedtothepersonalblogsthathadbeengaining

momentumandmuchpopularitythroughtheyearssinceblogginghadbecomeso

prevalentamongusersoftheInternet.

Alongwiththepresentationofone’sself,HongandSheehy(2010)examined

blogcontentandtheprofessionalismofbloggingoverall,astheyanalyzedthe

contentofblogpostsnationwidetodiscussthepossibilityofpeoplethinkingintheir

ownmindsthattheywereactualjournalists.Thiswassupportedbyastudydoneby

Matheson(2004)whenhefound“that34percentofU.S.bloggersconsideredtheir

workaformofjournalism,and35percentreportedtheyoftenpracticedtraditional

journalisticactivitiesofverifyingfactsandincludinglinkstooriginalsources”(p.

39).ChildandAgyeman‐Budu(2009)analyzedthefrequencyofindividualblogging

amongjournal‐basedpersonalblogwritersandfoundthatbloggerswhohaveor

practicehigherself‐monitoringskillsappliedthosesameconceptstotheirself‐

disclosureontheirpersonalblogsfortheirownaudiences.

Motivationsforstartingandkeepingablogrunninghasbeenresearchedand

studiedsincetheoriginalinceptionofWeblogsinthemid1990’s.Li(2005)found

thatsevenofthemainfactorscouldbeclassifiedasself‐expression,passingtime,

improvingwritingskills,socialization,mediumappeal,self‐documentation,and

information.SimilarcategorieswerewhittleddownbyNardi,Schiano,Gumbrecht,

andSwartz(2004)astheynarrowedthemotivationstofive;expressionofdeeply

feltemotions,articulationofideasthroughwriting,documentationofone’spersonal

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life,formationandmaintenanceofcommunityforums,andtheproviding

commentaryandopinionsonissues.Trevino(2005)wentevenfurthertodiscuss

themotivationsforcollegestudentstoblog,thereasonsbeingtheirindividual

poweroverthepersonalwebsite,theabilityfortheiraudiencetoactivelyaccess

theircontent,andthepositivefeedbackthattheywouldreceivemainlyontheir

personalsubjectsthattheyusedastopicsfortheirblogposts.

ThosemotivationswerebroughtintoconsiderationasLiuandLaRoseused

bothsocialcognitivetheory,andself‐efficacyasaframeworktouncoverthe

perceivedaudienceperceptionsthatbloggershavewhentheyupdateandposton

theirownpersonalblogs.Lampa(2004)formulatedtheideathatbloggersgettheir

personalaudienceinteractionbytheamountofconstantposting,commenting,and

linkedcontentontootherpeople’sblogs,lookingforthesamedesiredeffectson

theirown.AfuturesuccesspatternwaspredictedusingthatideaasLampastated

“thecontinuedcoherenceofthisonlinecommunityisdependentuponthe

strengtheningofsharedexperienceandafortificationofwhatitmeanstobea

blogger”(p.1).Viegas(2005)mirroredasimilarstudyofbloggingmotivations

findingthattherelationshipthatbloggershavewiththeirreaderscouldbea

primaryreasonfortheinvestigationandcontinuedupdates.

Narcissism

TheoverloadandcompressionofSocialNetworkingSites,aswellasthe

influxofbloggingintotheonlinesocialmedia,raisequestionsastothebehavioral

patternsofhumanbeingswhothriveina“me‐first”forum.Thatmentalityseemsto

followsimilarpatternswiththementaldisorderknownasnarcissism.Overthe

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years,narcissism,hasbeenheavilydiscussedandanalyzedinthepsychologyfield.It

wasnotformallyclassifiedandrecognizedasanofficialdisorderuntiltheAmerican

PsychiatricAssociation(1980)broughtitforthintheDiagnosticandStatistical

ManualofDisorders(DSM‐III).NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder(NPD)iscurrently

definedbytheAmericanPsychiatricAssociation(1994)asa“pervasivepatternof

grandiosity,needforadmiration,andlackofempathy”(p.714).TheDSM‐IVdenotes

thatnarcissistsare“verysensitivetoinjury”thattheirself‐esteem“isalmost

invariablyveryfragile”andthattheyare“preoccupiedwithfantasiesofunlimited

success”and“requireexcessiveadmiration”(pp.714‐717).

Developmentofnarcissismcanbesomethingthatiscausedbysocial

interactions,ormayalsobeinstigatedbycertainparentingtechniquesand

behaviors.Millon,Grossman,Millon,Meagher,andRamnath(2004)discussedhow

narcissismcanbenurturedandgrownbyanovervaluingofachild’saccoladesand

accomplishments,andthattheyinturngivereinforcementthatisnotactuallybased

uponthechild’sbehaviors,andtheirconsequences.Capron(2004)compared

narcissismwithdifferentparentingstyles,andbrokedownfourcategoriesfrom

whichnarcissistictraitscanemergeamongyouth;overindulgence,

overdomineering,overprotection,andoverpermissiveness.Twenge(2006)went

evenfurtherashestudiedtheparentingandculturalinfluenceontoday’syouth,

whenhelabeledAmericanswhowereborninthe1970’s,80’s,and90’s,asthose

whoareapartof“GenerationMe”,andinessencefeltmoreentitled,more

egotistical,andmoreconfidentthanthepreviousgenerationbeforethem.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 17

Oneofthemostwidelyusedandacclaimedfoundationsofnarcissism

evaluationcomesfromRaskinandTerry(1988)whodevelopedtheNarcissistic

PersonalityInventory(NPI)whichisa40‐itemassessmentthatmeasuresthe

amountofcharacteristicsandtraitsthatareself‐reportedbyanindividual.Heavily

usedinthecomparisonofthefieldofsocialpersonalityandbehavioralresearch,the

NPIhasbeenusedastheframeworkformanyresearchersregardingNPD.Miller

andCampbell(2008)comparedtheNPIwiththePersonalityDiagnostic

Questionnaire(PDQ‐4)toseehownarcissismdifferedamongindividuals.Pincus,

Pimentel,Ansell,Cain,Wright,andLevy(2009)compiledacrossingmore

pathologicalexamination,thePathologicalNarcissismInventory(PNI).

Fromanonlinesocialnetworkingsitestandpoint,Mendelson,and

Papacharissi(2010)lookedattheincreasingtrendsofnarcissismdevelopingamong

adolescentsfromavisualpointofview,andhowtheamountofnarcissisticqualities

andtraitswereincreasingduetoSNSusersdisplayofpersonalphotographson

theirhomepages.Buffardi(2008)complimentedthatstudybyanalyzingself‐

narcissismevaluationsfromSNSusers.Othernarcissismqualitiesandtraitsthrough

socialnetworkingwerefound,asBuffardiwrote,“Narcissismisrelatedtoahigher

numberofsocialrelationships,self‐promotingself‐presentation,andtheperception

ofhavingalargenumberofagenticcharacteristics”(p.1310).

MalikhaoandServaes(2011)sawthosecharacteristicsandbehaviors

developingintoanattitudeofhighindividualismbytheyoungergeneration,which

wouldinturndevelopintooverconfidentnarcissism.Overall,Mehdizadehdefined

narcissismasa“pervasivepatternofgrandiosity,needforadmiration,andan

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 18

exaggeratedsenseofself‐importanceforpossibleselftobeexpressed”(p.358).

Addingthatnarcissistsdonotfocusoninterpersonalintimacy,warmth,orother

positiveaspectsofrelationaloutcomes.Instead,theyuserelationshipsto“appear

popularandsuccessful,andtheyseekattractive,highstatus”(p.358).

Wright,O’Leary,andBalkin(1989)lookedintothecontinuedsocial

developmentofNPD,leadingthemtobelievethatthereareverynegativeside

effectsandoutcomesfromNPD,mainlydepression.Researchwasdoneto

categorizethatdepression,withBlattandZuroff(1992)concludingthatthereare

twomajorclassesofdepression;introverted,anddependent.Introverted

depressionisassociatedwithfeelingsofself‐judgment,inferiority,feelingsof

worthlessness,guiltandfailure.Introverteddepressionisalsomostclosely

associatedwithnarcissismandegotisticalbehaviorbecauseofpeople’scontinual

striveforperfectionandaccomplishmentintheeyesofothers,andthattheywould

inturnbejudgmentalandaggressivetothosewhosurroundthem.

Anastasopolous(2007)notedthatadolescents"oftenseethehedonistic,self‐

destructivecharacteristicsthattheirnarcissistictypeofdepressionmighttakeon.

Thesearethemomentswhen,throughactingout,theyfeeltheybecomegrandiose,

tragicheroesbecausetheycannotbetheheroesthattheego‐idealispressingthem

tobe”(p.349).AcomparisonwithresearchdonebyLadame(1987)foundthat

depressiveandnarcissisticadolescentsdonothaveanevenbalanceofselfand

objectrepresentation,whichinturnwouldaidthemintheregulationoftheir

interpersonalrelationshipswithactualexternalobjectsintheirownlives.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 19

Millon(2006)researchedthedifferenttypesofpsychologicalissuesthatwe

asasocietydealwithconsistently.Heexplainsthisbybreakingeachofthe

psychologicaldisordersinto15separatecategories:Schizoid,Schizotypal,Avoidant,

Dependent,Hypomanic,Histrionic,Masochistic,Melancholic,Sadistic,Anti‐Social,

Negativistic,Borderline,Compulsive,Paranoid,andNarcissistic.Hesuggeststhat

therearevaryingformsofpsychologicalproblemsthatexistbyeithera“true”form

ofasingularpersonalitydisorder,aswellasoffshootsofthosedisordersbya

combinationofmultipleextremes.

Millon’sfocusonNarcissismbroughtintofocusfourdifferenttypesof

NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder(NPD).ThereisthetrueformofNPD,followedby

threedifferentsub‐types,whicharecombinationsofotherdisordersonhischart.

Theelitist,orpureformofnarcissismstatesthattheindividual“feelsprivilegedand

empoweredbyvirtueofspecialchildhoodstatusandpseudoachievements,entitled

façadebearslittlerelationtoreality,seeksfavoredandgoodlife,isupwardly

mobile,cultivatesspecialstatusandadvantagesbyassociation.”

Thethreeothersubtypesare:Compensatory,whichisacombinationof

narcissism,negativism,andavoidantcharacteristics;Amorous,whichisa

combinationofhistrionicandnarcissismcharacteristics;andUnprincipled,whichis

acombinationofanti‐socialandnarcissismcharacteristics.Eachofthesehastheir

ownnicheinMillon’sresearchofspecificpersonalitydisorders,andthereare

individualswhohesuggestscanbeclassifiedintooneofthefoursub‐types.

TherehavebeenbreakthroughsinthecomparisonbetweenNPDandsocial

networking,asindicatedbyresearchdonebyMendelson,Papacharissi,and

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 20

Buffardi,howevertheresearchconductedwasstrictlydonefocusingonwebsites

suchasFacebook.com.Furtherstudiesonthecorrelationbetweennarcissismand

blogcontentwerenotavailableforreview.Likewise,Ekdale,Kang,Fung,and

Perlmutterresearchedthemotivatingfactorsthattriggerapersontoconsistently

updatetheirblogs,howevertheirresearchwasdonestrictlyfromacommunication

perspective,notfromapsychologicalperspectivetoincludecharacteristicsofthose

whosufferfromNPD.

Thisstudy’sfocuswillbenarroweddowntotwospecifictopicsinbothfields

ofpsychologyandcommunication.Ratherthanlookingatsocialmediaasawhole,

thepreciseformofwebloggingwillbeanalyzed.Thiswillbedonewiththe

combinationoflookingataprecisepsychologicaldisorder,NPDtoseeifthereis

evidenceonaweblog,ofsomeonewhohascharacteristicsofthatdisorder.

Thereforethecombinationoftheinformationgivenintheliteraturereview

mergedwiththelimitationsinconductedcomparisonsbetweennarcissismand

socialnetworking,leadstothefollowingresearchquestion:

RQ1:WhatcharacteristicsthatdefineNPDcanbelocatedonthe

individualblogsofthosewhocouldbeclassifiedaselitists?

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Chapter3:Method

ContentAnalysis

Therearemultipleperspectivesandopinionsforwhatdefinesacontent

analysis.Weber(1990)wrote“contentanalysisisaresearchmethodthatusesaset

ofprocedurestomakevalidinferencesfromtext”(p.9).Holsti(1969)made

referencetohowcontentanalysisallowstheresearcherstodrawjudgments“by

objectivelyandsystematically”classifyingthematerialthatispresentedtothem(p.

14).Krippendorff(2004)describeditasa“researchtechniqueformaking

replicableandvalidinferencesfromtexts(orothermeaningfulmatter)tothe

contextsoftheiruse”(p.18).Stempel(2003)hadaveryuniquepointofviewashe

suggestedthatcontentanalysisissomethingthatisinstilledinourmindsearlyon,

andanactionthatwesubconsciouslydowitheverythingthatsurroundsusinour

dailylives.Asweareexposedtomultipleformsofcommunicationwithourpeers

andacquaintances,wedrawconclusionsandjudgewhatisbeingcommunicatedto

usalmostinstinctively.Hewrotethatthistypeofanalysisissomethingthat“weall

doinformallyandratherfrequently‐drawconclusionsfromobservationsofcontent”

(p.209).

Theprocesstowhichthoseconclusionsaredrawnissomethingthatisvery

detailedandprecisetobeabletoachievethebestpossibleresults.Krippendorff

(2004)wrotethat“contentanalystsinferanswerstoparticularresearchquestions

fromtheirtexts.Theirinferencesaremerelymoresystematic,explicitlyinformed,

and(ideally)verifiablethanwhatordinaryreadersdowithtexts”(p.25).Fico,Lacy

andRiffe(2008)identifiedthefive‐stepprocessthatmakesupacontentanalysis:

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 22

Unitization,Sampling,Operationalization,Reliability,andValidity.Theunitization,

sampling,andoperationalizationforthisanalysiswillbediscussedmoreindepth

throughouttheremainderofthissection.Thereliabilityofthisstudywillbethe

frameworkofthecodingprocessthathasbeenorganizedbyTheodoreMillon.The

validityliesintheinterpretationofthedataitselfbeingtakenfromtheweblogsthat

havebeenselected.Allfiveofthestepsarekeystocompletingasuccessfulcontent

analysisandmustbedesignedandstructuredtofittheresearchaccordingly.As

Fico,Lacy,andRiffewrote,“Eachofthesestepsiscriticaltothequalityofthe

research,andthedecisionsmadeateachstepmustbedefended”(p.119).

CodingProcess

Throughoutthecodingprocess,thereareprecisemethodsthatareusedto

identifyandtargetthecontentthatisbeinganalyzed.Aresearchermustlayouta

specificframeworkofcategoriestobeusedthatwillbeabletoclassifythetext.For

thisresearch,thosecategoriescamefromthesubcategoriesthatTheodoreMillon

usedtoidentifyNarcissisticPersonalityDisorder.

Inhisanalysisofpersonalitysubtypes,TheodoreMillondefinedthe

characteristicsthatmakeupthepureformofNPD,orthe“Elitist”classification.An

NPD‐Elitistissomeonewho“feelsprivilegedandempoweredbyvirtueofspecial

childhoodstatusandpseudoachievements,entitledfaçadebearslittlerelationto

reality,seekstofavoredandgoodlife,isupwardlymobile,cultivatesspecialstatus

andadvantagesbyassociation”(Millon,2006).

FromMillon’sdefinition,therewillbefivecategoriescreatedforthecoding

process:CelebrityStatus,High‐ProfileRelationships,Mobility,Self‐Praise,and

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 23

UniqueInterpretationofReality.CelebrityStatuswillbeclassifiedbyanyreference

toafavoredand/oraboveaveragelifestylebaseduponprioraccomplishmentsor

achievements,orreferencetothemonetaryvalueoftheirphysicalproperties.High‐

ProfileRelationshipswillbeclassifiedbyanyreferencetoassociationsor

connectionsthattheyhavewithacquaintanceswhocanbeviewedasatypeof

popularpublicfigure.Mobilitywillbeclassifiedbyanyreferencetolongvacations

orbusinesstripsacrossthecountryortheworldthatareafocusintheirlife.Self‐

Praisewillbeclassifiedbyanyreferencetoanaccomplishmentintheirlifethatthey

openlyacknowledgetotheiraudienceforcompleting.Thismayalsobeseenbyany

rhetoricalquestionsaskingtheiraudiencetovalidatetheirsuccess.Unique

InterpretationofRealitywillbeclassifiedbyanyreferencetoanexperienceof

personalconflictintheirlives,showinganextremeamountofemotionaldivergence

inregardstoasituationthatappearstobeadailyorregularoccurrence.

Eachofthesecategorieswillbeusedtoclassifyandanalyzethecontentfrom

theselectedblogposts.Ifthecontentmaybeclassifiedintomultiplecodes,(i.e.a

requestforareadertovalidatetheremarkablefive‐starhoteltheystayedinwhile

vacationingwithfellowactors;Self‐Praise,Mobility,CelebrityStatus)thecontent

willbeanalyzedtoseewhatisthemostdominantofthetraitsthatcanbe

recognized.Ifthereappearstobenotafavoringonewayoranothertoaspecific

trait,thenthefirstreferencetoaspecificcodewillbeusedfortheanalysis.

Thesubject’sblogswillbelookedatandcomparedtoseethedifferenttraits

ofNPDthattheymayormaynotexemplifyintheirblogpostings.Acomparison

betweenthesubjects’blogswillbedonetoseehowNPDhasbeendevelopingover

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theirblogginghistory,aswellaswhattraitstheybothshow,andonthecontrary,

whattraitstheydifferon.ThiswillbedoneinrelationwithRQ1.

ParticipantsoftheAnalysis

Therehavebeentwosubjectsthathavebeenselectedforthiscontent

analysis,bothofwhomappeartohavetraitsthatqualifythemassomeonewho

couldsufferfromanelitistformofNPD.Thesetraitshavebeenidentifiedbytheir

bloggingprofile’s“AboutMe”subsectionthatdetailswhotheyare,andwhothey

wanttheirreaderstoviewthemas.Inthebiographicalinfopageontheirsites,both

ofthesubjectshaveexpressedfeelingsofcelebritystatus,high‐profilerelationships,

mobility,self‐praise,andimitationofreality.

Xiaxue

WendyChengYanYan,or“Xiaxue”,isa27‐year‐oldAsianprofessional

bloggerwholivesinSingapore.Hertalentsasawriterhavebeennotedasshehas

receivedmultiplehonorsin2009and2011,fromtheNuffnangAsiaPacificBlog

Awards,includingRegion’sBestBlog,MostInfluentialBlog,andBestOriginalBlog

Design(NAPBAS,2011).ShehasalsoreceivedBestAsianBlogbyTheWeblog

Awardsin2004(Weblog,2004).

Fromasocialnetworkingperspective,Xiaxueisoneofthemostprominent

andpopularonlineicons.Currently,shehas5,638followersofherpersonal

bloggingsite,averagingcloseto300,000hitsperweek.Xiaxuepublishesonaverage

onepostevery2.63days(Xiaxue,2012).Xiaxuealsoreceivesmuchattention

throughotherSNSchannelssuchasFacebookandTwitter.OnherFacebookfan

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pageXiaxuehasover70,000fans,(Facebook,2012)aswellasover92,000followers

onTwitter(Twitter,2012).

Xiaxue’snotorietyhasbecomesoproficientthatsheusesherblog,facebook,

andtwitteraccountstogeneraterevenuefromadvertisements,bothcorporateand

independent.Herpopularityhasbypassedthenormalavenuesofblogmarketing

companiessuchasGoogleAdSense,whichisasoftwareprogramdesignedtoallow

bloggerstheabilitytopostadvertisementsontheirblogsforonlinebusinesses.

Revenueisthengeneratedbytheamountoftrafficthatclicksontheirwebsites.The

morepopularitythatanindividual’sbloggains,themoreexposurethattheaudience

hastothoseadvertisements,whichthengeneratesmorerevenueforthehost

administratorofthatblog.Xiaxuehaselevatedherreputationtothepointwhere

shemanagesherownpersonalmarketing,withpricesrangingfrom$300to$3,500

foradvertisementsonanyofherthreesocialnetworkingsites.Alsoforthecostof

$4,000,Xiaxuewillcreateapersonalizedten‐minuteYouTubevideoforherclients

(Xiaxue,2012).

WilWheaton

WilWheatonisa29‐yearoldactorwhohasembracedthesocialmediaworld

andseenmuchsuccessinhispublications.Wheatonisaformerchildstaractorwho

isknownforhisperformancesinToySoldiers,StandByMe,andStarTrek:TheNext

Generation(iMDB,2012).Hehasusedhiscelebrityaccoladestohelpmarketand

advertisehispublishedbooks,aswellashisblog.

Online,WilWheatonhasbeenanactiveparticipantinthebloggingworld,

withhisfirstwebsite,wilwheaton.nethavingitsfirstpostinginJulyof2001.

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Wheatonwasanavidbloggerandstayedconsistentwithhispostingswhenin

September2005,hewouldpublishhissecondblog,wilwheatondotnet:InExile.He

hascontinuedtopublishonasteadypace,withanaverageofonepostevery1.15

days(WWDN,2012).

WheatonhasalsoseensimilarsocialnetworkingsuccessasXiaxuehaswith

bothhisFacebookandTwitterpages,withhisachievementsandfamiliarfaceinthe

actingspherehelpmarkethisonlineidentity.Currently,Wheatonhasover11,600

friendsonhisFacebookpage(Facebook,2012),aswellasover1.9millionfollowers

onTwitter(Twitter,2012).Wheatonhasalsobeenactiveinhispersonalpodcast,

“RadioFreeBurrito”whichhehasbeenproducingsinceOctoberof2008.He

describesthemotivationforhispodcastinitshistoricaldevelopmentwhenhesays,

“EvenwhenIwasattheheightofmyactingsuccess,mydreamofbroadcasting

neverentirelywentaway.Iwasneverabletomakeitintoactualradio,butwhenthe

Internetmadepodcastingpossible,Iseizedtheopportunitytoplaymusic,tell

stories,andfinallysatisfymydelusionsofDJgrandeur”(WWDN,2012).Through

hispodcasts,blog,facebookfanpage,andtwitteraccount,Wheatonhasbeen

consistentlyusingamulti‐prongedapproachinhelpinglaunchhisonlinecharacter

tohisfans.

SelectedTextsusedintheAnalysis BothXiaxue’sandWilWheaton’scurrentblog(WWDN:InExile)havebeen

selectedforthisstudy,andareroughlythesameage,thereforegenerational

differenceswillnotbetakenintoconsideration.Therehavebeensevendifferent

monthsselectedfrombothoftheirblogsrangingfrom2005to2011.Themonths

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 27

havebeenselectedbasedonthesimilarityinthenumberofpostingsthateachofthe

subjectshavepublishedontheirblogforthatmonth.Thespecificmonthshavealso

beenselectedbasedononemonthperyear.

ThefirstmonthselectedisthefirstmonthonthearchivesofWilWheaton:In

Exile,Septemberof2005;alsothefirstmonththathehadadjustedhisblogging

fromwilwheaton.nettohiscurrentblogthatheisusingtoday.InSeptember2005,

Xiaxuehad20posts,Wheatonhadfiveposts.Thenextfivemonthsselectedare

thosewherebothXiaxueandWheatonappeartopublishroughlythesameamount

ofposts,thereforemakingitpossibletolookatthecontentasobjectiveaspossible.

ThenextfivemonthsthathavebeenselectedareJanuaryof2006,Xiaxue:16posts,

Wheaton:20posts;Marchof2007,Xiaxue:nineposts,Wheaton:40posts;Julyof

2008,Xiaxue:11posts,Wheaton:26posts;Juneof2009,Xiaxue:10posts,Wheaton:

16posts;andOctoberof2010,Xiaxue:nineposts,Wheaton:eightposts.Thelast

monthselectedforthestudyisthemostrecentcompletemonthoftheirblogging,

Decemberof2011,Xiaxue:11posts,Wheaton:sevenposts.Thismonthhasalso

beenselectedforananalysisoftheincreaseordecreaseofNPDcontentontheir

blogs.

Variablesinthestudythatwillnotbeaccountedforarethegender

differencesthatexistbetweenWheatonandXiaxue,aswellasthecultural

differenceswithWheatonbeingaresidentoftheU.S.A.,andXiaxuebeingaresident

ofSingapore.

Thisstudywillbeamorequalitativecontentanalysis.Thecontentanalysis

willbedonefromthecodingofdatathatisinterpretedtobeNPDcontent.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 28

However,thedatawillnotbeanalyzedfromaquantitativeperspective.The

statisticalanalysisoftheNPDcontentwillnotbetakenintoconsideration.This

studywillbedonefromamorequalitativeperspective,withtheintentbeingto

understandthereasoningbehindthepostingofNPDcontentonanindividual’s

weblog.Thereasoningforthistypeofanalysisisfortwomaincauses.First,the

textsusedforthisstudyareuniquebecauseoftheprecisetypeofcommunication

methodsbeinganalyzed,inthiscase,weblogs.Second,thiswillbeanexploratory

applicationoftheory,withthedatabeinganalyzedinasemi‐rhetoricalcriticism

fashion,thatbeingthelengthyblogpoststhathavebeenpublishedonline.However,

thedatabeinganalyzedwillbelinkingtheirreasoningofcommunicationwiththat

ofsomeonewhomaypotentiallysufferfromapsychologicalpersonalitydisorder.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 29

Chapter4:Results

Theresultsofthisstudywereacompilationofthesevenmonthsthatwere

selected,andwerecodedinthefollowingcategories:self‐praise,celebritystatus,

high‐profilerelationships,mobility,anduniqueinterpretationofreality.Primary

andgeneralexampleswereselectedfrombothWheatonandXiaxue’sblogs.

Self‐Praise

Self‐Praisewasclassifiedbyanyreferencetoanaccomplishmentintheirlife

thattheyopenlyacknowledgetotheiraudience.Thiswasalsoseenbyany

rhetoricalquestionsaskingtheiraudiencetovalidatetheirsuccess.Outofthefive

categoriesthatwerelistedforthisstudy,thiswasbyfarthemostcommoncontent

foundonbothWheatonandXiaxue’sblogs.

OneofthemostcommonwaysthatXiaxueexhibitedthiscodewasbyher

descriptionandpraisingofheroutwardphysicalappearance.Thisseemedtobe

somethingthatXiaxuedidmultipletimesthroughouteverymonththatwas

selected.Sheoftenpraisedcertainfeaturesofherphysicalappearancesuchasher

hair,orhercomplexion,andwouldthentieherself‐approvalwiththeapprovalof

othersaroundherthatadmiredherbeauty.Inonepost,shemadethestatements:

“Youknow,I'vethoughtthatIhaveareallycutebutt.”and“Mygorgeouspinkhair

thankstoMosche!!”towhichshecompletedtheapprovalwiththereferenceto

anotherperson’sadmirationinwhichshewrote,“Nattotallycheckedmeoutyears

ago!!Hahaha!!I'mhot!”(June,2009).Xiaxue’sadmirationwasarticulatedasshe

statedthatherbeautywasanaccomplishmentinherownlife.Shethenpointedthis

outtoheraudiencethatathirdpartyalsorecognizedherphysicalaccomplishments

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 30

bytheadmirationthattheyexpressedinlookingather.

Asummationofherthoughtsaboutherphysicalappearancewasbest

expressedwhensherespondedtoareader’scommentaboutablogpostthatshehad

previouslywrittenaboutherpersonalbeauty.Inherreplytothefanshewrote:

IimagineImusthavelookeddamncrazyanddefinitelywouldnothavesex

withmyself if Iweren'tme. I'd have sexwithmyselfwhen I amnot crazy

though.I'mprettyhot(March,2007).

Wheatonshowedthathealsohadfeelingsofself‐praise,buthisweremore

relatedtooutsideachievementsthathehadworkedfor,andwerenotnecessarily

associatedwithhisphysicalappearance.Therewereinstancesinwhichhe

advocatedtohisfansaboutthelatestreleaseofhisself‐producedpodcast,Radio

Free‐Burrito(January,2006).Healsomentionedtheworkthathedidfortelevision

showssuchasCSIorLeverage,askingfanstocomeandsupporttheworkthathedid

andbefansoftheshow(January,2006).Wheatonalsotalkedaboutthepublicity

thatsomeofhisworkwasreceivingonline.Inoneinstance,hewrotehowa

publicationofhis,Wheaton’sBooksintheWild,wasgainingattentiononFlickrand

hadanincreaseinmembership(July,2008).

Xiaxuealsodemonstratedthisdegreeofself‐praisewhenshedisplayedthe

significanceofherownwork.Oneofthemainexampleswasherblogforwhichshe

hadreceivedmultipleawards.Shewouldthenannouncetheawardtoherreaders.

Forexampleinoneinstanceshewrote,“Ifyoufollowmytweetsyou'dalreadyknow

IwonfortheMostInfluentialBlogandRegion'sBestBlog(again:p)”(December,

2011).Anotherinstancewaswhenshewasinterviewedaboutwhatshethought

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 31

wasthebestblogonlineinwhichshereplied,“Ilovemyownblogthemost,andI

thinkIamlikethemostfabulousbloggerinthewholewideworld,winningother

peoplebyleapsandbounds”(September,2005).

Thesewerecodedasexamplesofself‐praisebecauseofthereferencetotheir

achievements.Wheatonofcoursereferencedhisactingandcareer

accomplishments,andXiaxuereferencedheronlineblogrecognition.Thesewere

directlyplacedintheirblogsfortheviewerstotakeinandpossiblyoffer

congratulatoryremarksintheirfeedback.

Xiaxuealsotookaveryuniqueapproachtoself‐praisewhenshebegan

postingonherblogverylargequantitiesofpicturesthatshehadtakenofherself.

Thistechniqueshedescribedtoheraudiencewascalled“cam‐whoring”.Inmany

instances,whethershewaspostinganadvertorialforaproduct,orbloggingabouta

vacationthatshewastaking,shewouldpostupwardsof50photographsofherself,

atcloserangeonarepeatedbasis.Xiaxuealsomadementionthatshespenthours

ofherowntimepersonallyphotoshoppingthepicturesthatshehadtakenofherself,

sothatheraudiencewouldnotbedispleasedwithherpictures.Inoneblogpost,she

explainedtoherreadersthereasoningforthisprocess.Shewrote,“Ilovecam‐

whoring!Whynot?Onlyyoungoncesomuchtakemore,more,morephotos!Andif

thosephotosare‘chio’[associatedwiththeword“bu”,ishokkienslangfor“pretty

female”]it'sagreatwaytogetattentiononline!”(October,2010).

Cam‐whoringwasadifferentwaythatXiaxueusedtogainattentiononher

blog,andalsoanexampleofself‐praiseforhercontent.Bytakingmultipleimages

ofherselfandpostingthemtoherblog,shewouldalsoaskforreadersapprovalof

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 32

herphotos,whichwasatechniqueofinquiringforpraiseaboutwhosheisasan

individual.

Wheatonalsoshowedauniqueformofself‐praiseinhisbloginwhichhe

wouldrecountaneventthatoccurredinhislife,andthenwouldrelaythestoryto

hisaudienceandtryandtieahumanitarianprincipleintohispost.Inoneexample

hewrote:

WhenIsawapersonwaitingtomakealeftfromasidestreet,Istoppedtolet

himgoacross in frontofus. See, I try todonice things like that,because I

believetheworldwouldbeamuchbetterplaceifeveryonemadeaneffortto

dolittlethings,likeholddoorsopen,letpeoplewithfeweritemscutinfront

inthecheckout,say‘thankyou’...thingslikethat(January,2006).

Thiswasanexampleofself‐praisebecauseWheatondidnotneedtousean

exampleofhispersonallifeofhowhewashospitabletoanotherpersontoshow

peopleshouldbemoreconsiderateofthosearoundthem.Hecouldhaveleftthat

outofhisblogpost,however,hemadesuretoreferencethekindgesturethathedid

whichwasawaytoaskhisaudiencetoapproveofandpraisehisaction,confirming

thathewasanachievedindividualforthataction.

CelebrityStatus

CelebrityStatuswasclassifiedbyanyreferencetoafavoredand/orabove

averagelifestylebaseduponprioraccomplishmentsorachievements,orreference

tothemonetaryvalueoftheirphysicalproperties.Bothsubjects,Xiaxueand

Wheatonexhibitedcontentintheirblogsthatfellintothiscategory.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 33

Wheatonwouldrepeatedlyreferencethenumberofrelationshipsthathehad

withothercelebrityfiguresintheactingandmusicalindustries.Hewouldoften

dropnamesincasualinstancestoshowthecamaraderieandfriendshipsthatboth

partieshadbetweenthem.Forexample,inMarchof2007,Wheatonwrotea

blogpostabouthisparticipationattheWorldPokerTour,duringwhichhe

mentionedsomeofhisothercelebritycohortsthathehadspenttimewithatthis

event:

TheWorld Poker Tour Invitational was a great event. There were tons of

celebritiesthere,includingsomeactorsIreallyrespectandadmire,likeRon

LivingstonandDonCheadle.Infact,atonepoint,Itotallytookapeebetween

VinceVaughnandTimothyBusfield. JenniferTilly satdown three seats to

myright,makingthetablethatmuchhotterandtwiceastough.Tomorrow,I

willgobacktoCommercefortheWorldPokerTourInvitational, inwhichI

finished 23rd, and was the last celebrity (shh. don't tell anyone, okay?)

standing.

ByhismentioningofthenamesDonCheadle,VinceVaughn,andJennifer

Tilly,Wheatonputhimselfinthesameclassofcelebritythatthethreeactorswere

inaswell.Heconfirmedthiswithhisstatementofbeingthelast“celebrity”

remaininginthePokerTournament,thusestablishingtohisreadersthathewas

alsointhecelebrityrealmaswell.

Thiscelebritymentalitywasalsosupplementedbythenumberofreferences

thatWheatonhadtohispastactingachievementsinboththemotionpicture,and

televisionindustry.InmultipleinstancesWheatonreferredtosomeofthemore

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 34

wellknownactingendeavorsthathehadbeeninvolvedin,includingfilmssuchas

StandByMeandToySoldiers.Wheatonalsohadvariousscreenshotsandimages

postedofhimwhenhewasachildactoronthetelevisionshow,StarTrek:TheNext

Generation.

TherewerealsotimesinWheaton’sblogwhenhewoulddevoteentire

blogpoststosomeofthemoderndayactingjobsthathewasinvolvedinandhelping

produce,includingminorrolesontelevisionshowssuchasLeverage,andCSI.

Wheatonmadeastatementrecentlyinhisblogthatsummeduphiscelebrityand

actingcareerinwhichhesaid,“I’vebeenanactorforjustover30years.I’veworked

innearlyeveryenvironmentpossible,onallkindsofproductions,inallkindsof

roles”(October,2010).

Thisstatementcameattheendofablogpostinwhichhementionedhowhe

wasinthemiddleoffilminganunnamedtelevisionshowthatwouldlaterbe

releasedtothepublic.Wheaton’sstatementthathehadbeenanactorconfirmedto

thereadersthatheinfactwasasignificantlybusyindividualwhohadbeenapartof

multipleproductionsthatmanyothercelebritiesoftenwereinvolvedinaswell.

Thisconfirmedhisbeliefthathetoo,wasalsointheclassificationofacelebrity.

Xiaxue,howeverhadaverydifferentapproachtoherconfirmationof

celebritystatus.Xiaxue’sreputationwasnotbasedonanyentertainment

productionsthatshehadbeeninvolvedinatall,hermainsourceofcelebrity

recognitioncamefromhersuccessonlineasanaccomplishedWeblogger.

OneofXiaxue’smostcommonformsofcelebrityrecognitionwaswhenshe

woulddedicateentireblogpoststowhatshereferredtoasan“advertorial.”An

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 35

advertorialwaswhenXiaxuewouldendorseacertaintypeofcommercialproduct,

inwhichshewouldpostpictures,writepositiveremarksabout,andmaketheeffort

toshowtoherreadershowexcellentthatproduct’sserviceswouldbetothem.In

thesevenmonthsthatwereselectedforthestudy,Xiaxuedidadvertorialsfor

multipleproducts.ShedidadvertorialsforTurodrique,adesignercompany,

KimageHairStudio,andVoxyNailPortions,(September,2005),anadvertorialfor

KotexHairPluckers,(July,2008),anadvertorialforRiceCrisps,(October,2010),

andthenfinallytwoadvertorialsforLieseHairExtensions,andaphonefromNokia.

(December,2011)

AllofthesewereexamplesofhowXiaxuefeltthathercelebritystatusgave

herthegroundstobeanadvertiserforotherproducts.Shedidthisbyimplyingto

companiesthattheactivenumberoffollowersofherblogwouldreadher

advertisementofaspecificproduct,andthatwouldthengeneraterevenuebasedon

thefactthatmorepeoplewerehearingaboutthatproduct.Thiswascombinedwith

theideathatmorepeoplewouldlooktopurchasethatproductbecauseshe,a

celebrity,wasendorsingit.

Xiaxuemadereferenceinmultipleinstancestohowpeoplemaycomein

contactwithhermanageriftheywerelookingforhertopostanadvertorialonher

blog.Inoneexample,shewrotehowiftheywantedanadvertorialfortheir

companyto“PleasecontactmyagencyMunkysuperstar”(March,2007).This

referencetoheragencyreferredtohowshehadtheabilitytocreateadvertisements

thatwouldgenerateanincreaseinthemonetaryvalueoftheirproduct,thus

coincidingwithwhatcouldbecodedas“celebrity”value.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 36

TherewerealsoinstancesinwhichbothXiaxueandWheatonopenly

acknowledgedtheircelebritystatus,whetherbyrecountinganinstanceintheirown

life,orbytheopenrecognitionoftheirpersonalachievements.Wheatonshowed

thisbytellingastoryinwhichastrangerapproachedhimatanairportandpraised

himforhisacting,towhichthefanthenaskedifhewouldtakeapicturewith

himselfandherfriends.Wheatonrecountedhisthoughtsafterthisincidentby

saying:

Itendedupbeingreallycool,andwasamomentthatprofoundlychangedthe

way I dealtwith that "celebrity" thing that Iwas never really comfortable

with:thoughIalwaysthought"celebrity"wasbullsh**,itwasoneofthefirst

times I realized that, even though I didn't think of myself in those terms,

therewere some peoplewho did, andwith that came a certain amount of

responsibility(March2007).

Xiaxuereferencedhercelebritystatusinadifferentdirectionhowever,ina

morenegativelight.Forexample,ononeoccasionsherefutedclaimsmadeagainst

herthatherblogwasnotaverypopularonebychoiceforreaderstoread.Xiaxue

devotedanentireblogposttohersuccessasablogger,inwhichshesummedupher

thoughtswiththeclosingphrase,“Anyway,Iam54thinthedamnworld!God,I

thinkIshallgohugmyselforsomething”(September,2005).

AnotherexampleofthiswasseenafewmonthslaterwhenXiaxuedefended

herstanceonanissue,andattackedthecriticismthatshereceivedfromherreaders

aboutapreviousadvertorialshehadposted.Shedegradedheraudience’sposition

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 37

whenshewrote“DonotdemandIchangemywritingforyou‐itwillneverhappen,

becauseyouareinsignificant”(January,2006).

BothoftheseareexampleswhenXiaxuewaslookingforreinforcementsof

herbeingacelebrity,oneofwhichwasbyself‐praisewhensheannouncedthe

statisticsofhercelebritystatusbyherblogrankings,thesecondwhenshelowered

herreadersvalueandelevatedherselfbywhatshefeltwashercelebrityreputation.

ThatreputationthatshereferredtowaswhatWilWheatonfeltthathehadinsome

ofhisfanseyesaswell.

High‐ProfileRelationships

High‐ProfileRelationshipswasclassifiedbyanyreferencetoassociationsor

connectionsthattheyhavewithacquaintancesviewedaspopularpublicfigures.

Thiswasalsoseenbyreferencestonotablegroupsandorganizations.

WilWheatonhadmultipleexamplesofthisinhisblogashewouldoften

mentionthemanydifferentinterpersonalrelationshipsthathehadwithotherhigh‐

profileindividuals.ThisdifferedinthefactfromcelebritystatsinthatWheatonwas

notjustassumingthathisaudiencefeltthathewasacelebrityandwasinthesame

categoryashiscelebrityacquaintances,butthathestatedthedirectpointthathe

haddevelopedseriousrelationshipswithotherhigh‐profileindividuals.

Wheatonoftenreferencedbacktoexperiencesthathehadwithmanyofhis

high‐profilefriends.Manyofthesestoriesthatherecountedhewouldopenupwith

astatementaboutwhatmadethatspecificpersonimportanttotherestoftheworld

bywhattheyhaddoneintheirlifethatcouldbenotedbyeithermonetaryvalue,or

bypopularpublicopinion.Inoneexample,hewrote:“WaybackwhenIwas

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 38

eighteenornineteen,myfriendDamion,whowroteanddirectedNeverland”

(January,2006).Anotherexampleofthiswasseenwhenheopenedablogpostwith

thestatement,“MyfriendPaulyeditsanonlineliterarymagazinecalledTruckin’.

Paulyalwaysinvitesmetocontribute”(March,2007).

HisabovementionedreferencestobothhisfriendsDamionandPaulywere

classifiedashigh‐profilerelationshipcontentbecauseWheatonpointedoutthat

first,hehadfriendsinhislifewhohehadconsistentrelationshipswith,andsecond,

thosefriendshadaccomplishedsignificantachievementsintheirownliveswhether

theybethedirectingofHollywoodfilms,orthemanagingofasuccessfulmagazine.

Xiaxuealsodisplayedthesefeaturesinherblogasshereferencedsignificant

individualsinherownlifethatweremorethanjustacquaintancestoher.Inone

instance,shereferencedapopulartelevisionfigureandhowshehadclose

connectionswiththatpersonbecauseofwhosheis.Shewrote:“Maia[Lee,of

SingaporeIdolfame]invitedmetoattendheralbumlaunchatDXO!Iknewhera

longtimeago,actually,whenshewasstillJune'ssister'ssingingteacher”

(September,2005).Here,XiaxuemadenotethatsheknewtheSingaporeIdolstar

beforeherrisetofame,andshealsostatedhowshestillmaintainedthat

relationshipwithher,thusindicatingthatsheherself,wasahigh‐profileindividual.

AnotherwaythatWheatonshowedthathehadhighprofilerelationshipswas

whenhereferencedthedifferentorganizationsandcompaniesthatheconnected

withineitherapastorpresenttense.Somesignificantonesthathementioned

werewhenhewasinvitedtotheLasVegasStarTrekconventionasajudge(March,

2007),whenhewasonapublishingpanelforthecompanyPocketbooks(July,

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 39

2008),andalsowhenheservedontheboardoftheScreenActorsGuild(June,

2009).

AllofthesecouldbeseenasWheatonhavingarelationshipwithasignificant

andhighprofileorganization,whichthenshowedthevaluethathisreputationhad

tobeapartofthoseorganizations.Themainreasonthatthesecouldbeclassifiedin

high‐profilerelationshipsisthatWheatonstatedthesefactstohisaudienceinthe

samemannerhowhestatedhisrelationshipswithindividualsexisted,thatwas

discussedpreviously.Thehigh‐profilefactsweremadetochronologicallyreference

atwhatpointinhislifehewasat,butatthesametimeweremadetopointouttohis

audiencethetypeofpersonthathewastobeassociatedwith,eitherthosepeople,

orthoseorganizations.

Mobility

Mobilitywasclassifiedbyanyreferencetolongvacationsorbusinesstrips

acrossthecountryortheworldthatwereafocusinbothWheatonandXiaxue’s

lives,oranyreferencetolivingamobilelifestyleinwhichtheysurrounded

themselveswithtechnologythatgavethemmoreaccesstocommunicatingwith

theiraudience.

Wheatonmentionedthisinmultipleinstancesonhisblog,manytimesasa

prefacetowherehewasfilmingatelevisionshow,orworkingonproducingand/or

writingforhiscareer.Inotherinstances,Wheatonusedthistodetailsomeofthe

thingsthathedidinhisownlifethatwenthandinhandwithhissomewhat

extravagantlifestyle,alifestylethatcoincidedwiththeprevioustwocodesofbeing

acelebrity,andbeinghighprofile.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 40

Forwork‐relatedmobility,Wheatonlistedthenamesofthecitieshewas

travelingtoforsomeofhisactingroles.Forexample,hededicatedmultiple

blogpoststohisworkontheshowLeverageinwhichhewouldopenthepostswitha

statementofhislocationinPortland,Oregon(June,2009).Inanotherinstance,he

madethestatementthat“Inacouplehours,I'llbeonmywaybacktoLosAngeles

forafewdays,soIcanworkonTheBigBangTheory…IshootBigBangTheoryon

MondaybeforeIgobacktoVancouvertofinishoutthefourthseasonofEureka

(October,2010).

Inotherinstances,Wheatonreferencedhistravelingexperiencesforpurpose

ofpleasureorentertainment.Inoneexample,hediscussedhowhewastakingared

eyeflighttotheBahamastoparticipateinacelebritypokertournament(June,

2006).Inanotherexample,hementionedhowhewastakingaquickflightdownto

SanDiegoforashortstayatacomicbookconvention(July,2008).Onaspecific

blogpost,herecountedavacationthathetookwithhiswifewhenhewrote:“Anne

andI,longbeforeweweremarried,andhadinfactbeendatingforlessthanayear,

flewtoLondonforahugeStarTrekconvention”(March,2007).

ThesewereallexamplesofhowWheatonportrayedtohisaudiencethe

amountoftravelandtimethathehadspentallovertheworldforhiscareer

purposes,andsomewhatexcessivepersonallifestyle.Thesecouldalsobecodedas

atraitofNPD,someonewhofeelsthattheyareupwardlymobileintheirwayoflife.

Xiaxuefollowedinasimilarpatternwhenshepostedabouthermobility,

however,allofherpostswereunderthesubcategoryofmobilevacationandnotof

workingmeans.ThereweremultipleexampleswhereXiaxuewouldpostabouthow

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 41

shewouldbeleavingonaflighttoLosAngeles,aswellasDallas,foragetaway

(December,2011).Orthatshewentonafour‐dayroadtripwithherfriendsacross

theMalaysiancountryside(March,2007).

Xiaxuealsohadblogpoststhatwereoverlybombardedwithphotographs

thatshehadtakenwhileonvacationorapartofhertravels.Therewasablogpost

dedicatedtoaflashmobthatshewasaparticipantofwhileshewasvacationingin

Singapore(June,2009).Sheusedthissametechniqueasshepostednumerous

photographsofhervacationtoBali(June,2009),aswellaswhenshewastraveling

totheNuffnangAsiaPacificBlogAwardsinSingapore(December,2011).

ThesereferencesweresimilartoWheaton’sinthefactthattheywereall

discussinghowmobileherlifestyleis,asshetraveledacrossSouthernAsia,aswell

ashertripsintotheUnitedStatesforrecreationalpurposes.Theseallcouldbe

classifiedinthecategoryofmobility.

AnotherwaythatmobilitywasshownbyWheatonwaswhenhediscussed

howportablehislifewasashewasontheroadworking.Oneexampleofthiswas

whenhediscussedtheamazementthathehadforbeingabletopostblogsinsucha

timelyfashionwhileonthego.Hewrote,“I'monmylunchbreakrightnow,

marvelingathowweirditistoliveinthefuture,whereIcanposttomyblogfrom

mydressingroom”(June,2009).Hewouldlaterexpoundonthisbyposting,

“Duringproduction,wecouldsendpicturesandupdatesfromthesettoTwitterand

ourblogs,andengagetheaudienceinadirectandintimatewaythatisunlike

anythingI’veeverdonebefore”(June,2009).

Theseoccurrenceshaveappearedtohavelosttheirlustersinceactivities

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 42

suchasthishavebecomeverycommonformostindividuals,however,atthetime,

thiswassomethingthatWheatonexpoundeduponasanadvantagetobeingso

mobile,havingthelifestyleandcapabilitytobeabletorelatetohisaudienceabout

hiscareerandentertainmentactivities.Thisalsowascodedforsomeonewholived

alifethatismobile,andsomeonewhohastraitsofNPD.

UniqueInterpretationofReality

UniqueInterpretationofRealitywasclassifiedbyanyreferencetoan

experienceofpersonalconflictintheirlives,showinganextremeamountof

emotionaldivergenceinregardstoasituationthatappearedtobeadailyor

commonoccurrence.UniqueInterpretationofRealityalsohadsomeofthemost

emotionallychargedandemphaticblogpostsbybothofthesubjectsbecauseofthe

inclusionofconflictwithotherindividualsinbothoftheirlives.

Wheatonshowedthisinsmalldosesonhisbloginwhatappearedtobevery

minuteconflicts.Inoneinstance,hewroteafewparagraphsonthecommunication

issuesthatexistedbetweenhimselfandhismanagerforanactingrolethathewas

lookingtopursue(July,2008).Inanotherreference,heventedhisfrustrationsfor

notbeingabletoblogathisoriginalwebsite,wilwheatondotnet(September,2005).

Thatemotionalreferencewasalsowhatcreatedtheblogthatheiscurrentlyusing,

WWdN:InExile.OneparticularimitationofrealitywaswhenWheatonproclaimed

hisangerattheadvertisementsthathemustwatchbeforeviewingapurchased

DVD.Hewrote:

IreallyhateitwhenIputaDVDintomyDVDplayer,andbeforeIcanactually

gettothefu**ingmovieIpaidtowatch,Ihavetositthroughabigbunchof

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stupid,time‐consuming,not‐the‐moviebullsh**!(March,2007).

Thesecanbeseenasauniqueinterpretationofrealitybecausetheconflicts

thathewasupsetaboutwerenotlife‐alteringissues.Wheatoncomplainedabout

copyrightinfringementmessagesthathewasforcedtowatchbeforeamovie,when

thosearethesamemessagesthateveryoneelsewatchesontheirownpurchased

DVD’saswell.Thereasonthattheseexampleswerecodedasimitationsofrealityis

becausehewassoemotionallychargedaboutsimpleandminuteproblemsinhis

life.Expressingvulgarityaboutmiscommunicationwithamanageraboutanacting

job,orhavingablogmalfunctionwasshowingapolarextremeofwhyhislifeis

moreimportantthaneveryoneelse’sandwhyheshouldnothavehadtodealwith

issuessuchasthose.

Xiaxuefollowedthesesamepatternswhensheexpressedfeelingsof

frustrationforminorconflicts.Oneexamplewaswhenshetoldthestoryof

standinginlineforanalbumreleaseandanelderlygentlemansteppedinlinewitha

friendaheadofher.Shewrote:

HECUTMYQUEUE!BLATANTLY! Inevereverletpeopleoffwhentheydo

thingslikethattome,andIwasabouttoscoldhimbutIwasscaredthathe

boxedmyfragilenosesinceheisalreadysoold(maybe60)andjailtohimis

nothing(March,2007).

OtherexamplesincludedhowXiaxueexpressedsharpwordsaboutnotbeing

abletofindacabinthecityofSingapore(March,2007).Shecomplainedaboutthe

violationofherprivacythatshehadtoendurewhileusingpublictransportationin

andaroundherhomecity.Therewasevenablogpostdedicatedtoherangerabout

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howawaiterwouldnotlookatherintherightfashion,andmainlygaveattentionto

herhusbandwhilethetwoofthemwereouteatinginafancyrestaurant(March,

2007).

Howsheexpressedangeraboutaverysmallsetbackinherlifewascodedin

theuniqueinterpretationofreality,becauseshewasrelatingtoherreadershowshe

didnotdeservetobetreatedinsuchaway.Thiswasanelevationofherpersonal

characteranddegradationofthosearoundher.InMillon’sstudy,hedefinedthree

othersub‐categoriesofpureNPD,oneofwhichisclassifiedas“Compensatory”.

Compensatorybehaviorsincludenegativity,andalackofself‐esteem,creating

illusionsofbeingsuperiortoothers.Xiaxue’spersonalelevationtechniquescould

beclassifiedinthecompensatoryNPDsub‐category.Xiaxuerepeatedlymadesmall

conflictsappearasmajorcatastrophesinherblogposts.Wheninreality,allofthese

conflictswerethingsthateveryoneelsearoundherisforcedtodealwithintheir

ownlives.

Xiaxuehadmoreexamplesofthisintheearlieryearsofherblogposts,in

whichshewouldoftendevoteentireblogpoststothenegativecommentsthatshe

wouldreceivefromherreadersandfollowers.Oftentheseremarkswouldcome

fromreadersbecausetheydisagreedwithherviewpointsoncertainissues,and

wouldsaynegativethingsonherblogabouther.Xiaxuetookthoseremarks

personally,andwroteboldresponsesofbothangerandsympathytoherentire

audience.Inoneexampleshemadeacalltoactionforherreaderstobeonherside

onacertainissuewhenshewrote:

The leastmyblogders (readers) cando forme is todefendmewhen I get

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 45

wrongly accused, or when people get overtly vicious with their words. It

hurts me to see that even stuff like the above get written about me, you

readersseemtobedoingnothingatall(September,2005).

ThiswasseenasauniqueinterpretationofrealitybecauseXiaxuewas

openlyenragedaboutthepublicopinionofherthatwasnegative.Sheexpressed

thatshewasnotsomeonewhodeservedtobeundersuchscrutinyandlookedatin

anegativemanner.Howeverthenegativecommentsfromherfanswereonlybeing

incitedbecauseofblogpoststhatshehadwritteninthepastthathadbeennegative

aboutsomeoneelse.Thiswasholdingpeopletoadoublestandardinthatregard,

wheresheasthebloggerhadtherighttoridiculesomeone,buttheyontheother

handdidnothavetherighttobenegativeabouther.

Amorous

AlongwiththefivesubcategoriesoftheelitistformofNPD,therewasalsoa

largeamountofcontentonXiaxue’sblogthatwasclassifiedintheamorouscategory

ofNPDthatMillondefined.Muchofthiscontentwasshownthroughsexually

descriptivelanguageandextensiveblogpostsdedicatedsolelytopromiscuous

behaviors.

Forexample,earlyoninthefirstmonthsthatwereselectedforthisstudy,

(September,2005andJune,2006)Xiaxueusedanabundanceofsexualreferences

anddialoguetodescribeherlifestyle,aswellaseventsthatshewentthroughon

bothaninterpersonalandasocialmediaperspective.Inoneinstance,she

transcribedanonlineconversationthatshehadwithanotherpersonaboutwanting

tohavesexualintercourse(September,2005).Shealsousedsexuallysuggesting

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 46

wordssuchas“orgasmic”todescribeordinarysituationssuchasthedeliveryofa

high‐classmealthatshewasreceivingatafive‐starrestaurant(January2006).A

primeexampleofthiscontentwasseenwhenshedevotedanentireblogpost

entitled,OfftoJB,inwhichshedescribedtoheraudienceaboutthepeakofa

woman’ssexualexperience.Alongwiththatblogpostshepostedamathematical

equationfortheamountoforgasmsthatawomanshouldhaveexperiencedoverthe

spanofeightyears,provokingtheideathatsheasawoman,aswellasherreaders,

neededtoexperienceamorerewardingwayoflife.Anotherblogpostwasdevoted

solelytoaportionofsexuallysuggestivematerialthatcamewhensherecordedan

entireInstantMessageconversationbetweenherandanothermanonline,their

conversationbeingentirelydevotedtothepossibilityofsexualintercoursebetween

thetwoofthemiftheyweretogether.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 47

Chapter5:Discussion

Thestudy’sresearchquestionaskedwhatcharacteristicsandtraitsthat

defineNPDcouldbelocatedonanindividual’sblog.Thefivemainqualitiesthat

couldbefoundonbothWheatonandXiaxue’sblogwerealsothefivetraitsthat

wereoutlinedbyMillon’sstudy:celebritystatus,high‐profilerelationships,mobility,

self‐praise,anduniqueinterpretationofreality.Eachcategoryforthisstudywas

selectedbecauseofthecharacteristicsofwhatMillondefinedasapureor“elitist”

personalityofsomeonewhodealswithNPD.

Outofthefivecategoriesforthisstudy,bothWheatonandXiaxueexhibited

numerousexamplesofNPDontheirblogsranginginthemonthsselectedfrom2005

to2011.Overwhelmingly,thecategoryofself‐praisewasthemostdominanttrait

shownontheirblogs,withexamplesbeingcodedforeverymonththatwasselected

forthestudy.Onthecontrary,mobilitywastheleastcommontraitrevealedinthe

study,withbothWheatonandXiaxuereferencingaspectsoftheirlivesthatcouldbe

classifiedinthecategoryofmobilitytheleastamountoftimes,incomparisonwith

thefourothercategories.

Self‐praisemayhavebeenthemostcommontraitbecauseitseemedlikeit

wouldbethemostconvenientandsimplestwaytoshowthatonehasnarcissistic

traits.Theotherfourtraitstakemorethanjustpositivewordsfromaperson’s

mouthtoexist.Forexample,toshowthatoneisrecognizedasacelebrity,they

wouldneedvalidationfromanothersource,suchasanothercelebritytoprovethat

theyareinthesamecategory.Thispatternissimilarwithhigh‐profile

relationships.Onewouldneedmultiplesituations,developedfriendships,and/or

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 48

anaffluenceofmonetaryvaluetobeconsideredsomeoneofhigh‐profilequality.

Mobilityfollowsthesametrendsbyneedinganabundanceoffunds,aswellasthe

capabilitytotravelextensively,toshowNPDtraitsinthissubcategory.Finally,the

majorityofthecontentthatwascodedintheuniqueinterpretationofreality

categorywasbecauseofconflictcreatedwithanotherindividual,thuscausing

instabilityinthatsubject’slife,andtheexpressionofnegativeemotionsand

frustrationsintheirblogposts.

WhenshowingcharacteristicsofNPDbyself‐praise,allonewouldneed

essentiallyisthemselvestodoso.Abundanceoffunds,travelopportunities,

celebrityrelationships,andcontrastingsecondpartiesarenotnecessarilyneeded

fornarcissiststoexpressthejoyandvainemotionsthattheyhaveforthemselves.

Allofthesevariablesmayinfactplayapartintheexpressionofself‐praise,butin

essence,subjectscouldexhibitthesetraitsbyjustglancingintoamirrorand

elaboratingonhowtheyviewthemselvesinapleasingmanner.

Forthisstudy,Millon’smaintheoryofthe“elitist”categoryofNPDwasused

tocodethedatathatwasgatheredfromthesubject’sblogs.Therewere,however,

threeotherdistinctgroupsofcharacteristicsthatMillonclassifiedassubtypesof

NPD:compensatory,amorous,andunprincipled.Afascinatingpointthroughoutthe

studywasthewaythatXiaxueexhibitedherNPDtraits.Inamajorityofher

blogposts,shedeliveredcontentthatwascategorizedintooneofthefiveselected

fromthe“elitist”group.However,therewerealsomultipleinstancesinwhichshe

deliveredcontentthatcouldhavebeenclassifiedintooneoftheotherthreeNPD

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 49

sub‐categories.Theothercontentbeingmostfrequentlyreferencedtowouldbe

classifiedintheamorouscategoryofNPD.

HerbehaviorwasanexampleofhowneitherXiaxue,orWheatoncouldbe

classifiedintoasinglesubcategoryofNPD,andthattheymayshowtraitsand

characteristicsofonewhoisofmultiplesubcategoriesofNPD,andcouldhave

possiblydevelopedthoseoverthelifetimeoftheirblogs.Thisstemsfromtheidea

thatsocialmediacouldinfactwarpanindividual’spersonalitybytheamountof

feedbackandresponsesthattheyareexposedtoonacontinualbasis.The

developmentofNPDtraitsthatthesesubjectsshowmayhavealsoevolvedina

similarmannerastheirsocialmediaempiredidaswell.Theevolutionofcharacter

isoneofthemainpointsthatwillbediscussedinthissection.

MillondefinedsomeonewhoisclassifiedintheamorouscategoryofNPDas

anindividualwhois“sexuallyseductive,enticing,beguiling,tantalizing,gliband

clever,disinclinesrealintimacy,indulgeshedonisticdesires;bewitchesand

inveiglestheneedyandnaïve;pathologicallyingandswindling”(Millon,2006).

ThereweremultipleexamplesofXiaxuehavingcontentonherblogthatcouldbe

classifiedintheamorouscategoryasdiscussedintheprevioussection.

TheexamplesusedwerebecauseofthepossibilitythatXiaxuemayinfact

havetraitsthatwerefromboththeamorousandtheelitistcategoriesofNPD.The

wordsthatsheusedinthepreviouslymentionedblogpostsweresexuallyseductive,

enticing,anddisincliningtoactualsexualintimacybecausetheywereinfactbased

foronlinecommunication.Theblogpostswerealsoextremelysexualinnatureand

devotedentirelytoprovokingthoughtsandideasofasexuallifestyle.Shesuggested

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 50

toheraudiencethatshewasaparticipantinthiswayoflife,andhadaveryactive

sexuallife,bothofwhichcouldbeclassifiedintheamorouscategoryofNPD.Inone

blogpostshewrote:“Idon’tbelievethatanyonewon’tbeenticedbymybreasts.

Breastsaresonice”(September,2005).Thiscanbeseenasbothelitistbecauseshe

wasusingself‐praiseaboutherownbreasts,butalsoamorousbecauseshewas

writingaboutherownbodypartsthatcouldbeviewedinasexualperspective.

MultiplecategoryexamplessuchasthiscouldbebecauseXiaxuewasusingadual‐

prongedapproachatgettingreaderstoreadandrespondtoherblog.Thesexual

phrasingcouldbeactingasanenticementforthereaders,followedbytheinvitation

tocommentandgivefeedbackabouttheiragreementwithherstatements.

Itwasnotedthatthemajorityofthesexuallydescriptivewordsandcontent

thatsheusedinherblogwerepostedearlieroninthemonthsthatwereselectedfor

thestudy.From2008topresent,thesexually‐suggestivecontentwasnearabsent

fromherposts,withthemajorityofhercontentbeingclassifiedintheelitist

categoryofNPD,i.e.celebritystatus,high‐profilelifestyle,mobility,self‐praise,

imitationofreality,andnottheamorouscategoryaswell.Thiscouldbebecauseof

multiplereasons,suchasthatshehadoutgrownthetraitsinthatsubcategoryof

NPD,andhadstartedtodevelopacharacterthatwasamore“pure”narcissist.

Xiaxue’spopularityintheWebloggingworldgrewexponentiallyovertheten

yearsthatshehadbeenposting.Shecontinuedtogainalargenumberoffansonan

annualbasis,andreceivedmultipleawardsandrecognitionforherpublishing.As

herblogevolved,hernarcissisticpersonalitytraitsmayhaveevolvedwithitaswell.

Withthethrongofreaderstakinginandcommentingonherblogs,shemayhave

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 51

begantograduallyincreasethecharacteristicsofsomeonewhowouldbeclassified

intheelitistcategoryofNPD.Apersonwhoseblogonlyhas50followerswouldnot

feelthattheywereverypopularorrecognized.However,apersonwhohasover

6,000followersoftheirblogmayfeelthattheyareinfacta“celebrity”.Thatwayof

thinkingiswhatMillonclassifiedasoneofthetruestdefinitionsofanelitist.Thus

hergrowthofNPDtraitscouldhavestemmedfromthegrowthofherblog.

Anideaofhowshegainedsuchrapidpopularityonlineisthatshemayhave

usedsexuallyprovocativewordsandpostsasanadvertisingtactictoattractreaders

toherblogearlyon,inordertoincreasethesizeofheraudience.Theconceptthat

shewas“pushingtheenvelope”onherpersonalblogtogetreaderstokeepchecking

backinwithherpostingsissomethingthatcouldbeusedforfuturestudies.There

is,however,insufficientdatatoassumethatthisissomethingthatshewasdoingon

herblogintentionally,andisnotinaccordancewiththisstudy.

AnotherthemethatwasseeninbothWheatonandXiaxue’sblogwasthe

overabundanceofself‐praiseinthecontent.Asmentionedpreviously,thiswasby

farthemostcommontraitthatwasseenontheirblogs,withalargequantityoftheir

postingsreferencingtheirpersonalaccoladesandachievements.Onecommontrait

thatwentalongwithself‐praisewasaskingrhetoricalquestionstotheiraudienceto

validatetheirpersonalaccomplishmentsdiscussedinpreviousblogposts.

Therearepostsontheirblogsthatcouldbeviewedasobviousexamplesof

self‐praise,however,thereisalsothepossibilitythattheycouldbeclassifiedas

examplesofsomeonewhodealswiththecompensatorytraitsofNPDthatMillon

defined.OneofthekeystatementsinwhichMillondescribedsomeonewhoisapart

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 52

ofthecompensatoryNPDgroupingisthatthey“seektocounteractorcancelout

deepfeelingsofinferiorityandlackofself‐esteem”(Millon,2006).Itissuggested

thattheevidenceofbothWheatonandXiaxuehavingalowself‐esteemcouldbe

seenbytheirsemi‐rhetoricalaudiencequestions.Byaskingforvalidationonan

accomplishmentintheirpersonallives,theymaynothaveconfidenceinthemselves

forwhattheyweredoing,andneededathirdpartytoauthenticatetheirpersonal

existence.Ifareaderweretothenrespondinapositivemannertotheirrhetorical

questions,itwouldthenconfirmintheirownmindsthattheirreadersrecognized

theirbehaviors,andthattheyinfactwouldbeinthesamecategoryofsomeonewho

iselite,orprivileged.Blogpostssuchasthecomicbookscript,andthephotoshoot

aspreviouslymentionedcanbeseenasexamplesofthischaracteristic.

Totakethisideaofself‐praiseinstigationevenfurther,Wheatonprovided

multipleexamplesofwhenhepostedremarksthatwereself‐deprecatingand

seekingsympathyinnature.Forexample,inoneblogposthewrote:

Ifyou'relikeme,andyou'remarriedtoafabulousbabe,doyoueverhave

thosedayswhereyourwifeissoincrediblybeautiful,youfeellikeabigfat

stupiduglypileofsh**?(March,2007).

Inanotherinstance,hemockedhisownself‐praisethathehadpostedabout

hiscelebritystatusbywriting:“IkindoffeellikeI'msaying,‘hey!Iamsogreat!

EveryonelookathowgreatIam!Woo!Woo!Lookatme!Woo!’"(March,2007).

Hisremarksweretakensarcasticintone,butwerealsoviewedasaformof

sympathybecausehewrotethemincontextaskingforreaderstovalidatehis

accomplishments.Thiscouldbeatechniqueinwhichhewasinstigatinghisreaders

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 53

torespondtohisblogpost,listingallofthesuccessthathehadreceivedasachild

actor/moderndaycelebrity.That,initself,couldbecategorizedasabehaviorof

someonewhowouldbeclassifiedintheelitistcategoryofNPD.

Thesewordsmayalsobelookedatascontentonhisblogthatwouldbe

classifiedinthecompensatorycategoryofNPD,becauseofWheaton’sattemptof

counteractinghisownpersonalfeelingsofinferiority,and/orhislowself‐esteem.

Hisreasonsforpostingnegativeremarksabouthimselfcouldbebecausehedoesin

facthavealowself‐esteem,andwaslookingforhisaudiencetovalidatehisown

personalaccomplishmentsintheircommentsabouthisblogpost.

Anideathatcouldbelookedatforfutureresearchistoseethedevelopment

ofasubject’sNPDtraitsandcharacteristicsinonecategory,andtoseehowthey

evolveoverthecourseoftimeintoaseparatecategoryofNPD,withtheincreased

amountoffollowersandreceivedfeedbackontheirblogs.Forexample,wouldWil

Wheaton’scompensatorybehavior,inwhichheloweredhisinterpersonalvalueto

hisaudienceasaploytoreceiveaffirmation,havedecreasedovertimewiththe

increaseinfansandaudienceparticipationthathewasreceiving?Wouldthatthen

inturnhaveincreasedhiselitisttraitsaswell?Thisissimilartothesuggestion

madepreviouslythatXiaxue’samountofsexualcontentonherblogdiminished

becauseoftheamountoffollowersthatshehad,andsheseemedtodevelopmoreof

anelitistformofNPDbehaviors.ThesamesuggestioncouldbemadeaboutWil

Wheaton’stacticsinthisinstanceaswell.

ThisbehaviorcouldalsobeviewedasanexampleofSocialExchangeTheory,

AltmanandTaylor(1973).Twomaincomponentsofthistheoryarethathumans

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 54

areinconstantsearchofrewards.Second,humanshavevaryingstandardsinwhich

theyevaluatethecostsandrewardsinanygivensituation.BeforeWheatonposted

anegativecommentabouthimself,hecouldhavebeenlookingatboththecostsand

therewardsofwhathewasposting.Thecostswouldbethathewouldbeopenly

criticizinghimselfonhisblog,exposinghisflawstothethousandsofpeoplethat

stayedupdatedonhisposts.Therewardwouldthenbetohavehisaudience

respondinacontrastingmannerbywritingpositivecommentsabouthimonhis

blog.Doingsowouldnegatethecriticalwordsthathewroteabouthimself,and

wouldbeaformofself‐enhancement.

Thenegativecommentsthatthesubjectsmadewerenotonlyaimedat

themselves,butwerealsotargetedfortheircriticalreaders.Millonstatedthat

negativefeaturesareoneofthemaincomponentsthatdefinedthecompensatory

NPDcategory.Thecompensatoryclassificationissomethingthatcouldinfactbea

categoryofNPDthatbothWheatonandXiaxuesufferfrom,basedonthecontentof

theirblogs.Thenegativistic,orcompensatoryperspectivewasshownbythe

amountofdisapprovingandbelittlingremarksthatbothofthemmadetowards

theirreadersintheirposts.Inmultiplesituations,theseremarksweremade

becauseofnegativecommentsthattheyhadreceivedaboutblogstheyhadposted

inthepast,andwereadefensemechanismfornotbeingappreciated.

Thisideacouldalsobethattheyexhibitedtraitsinboththeelitistandthe

compensatorysubcategoriesofNPD.Theelitisttraitswouldbethatwhenthey

posted,theywerepursuingtheirreaderstopraisetheiropinionsandideas.

However,whentheywerenotreceivingthepositiveremarksfromtheirreaders,

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 55

feedbackthattheyfeltascelebritiestheyshouldbereceiving,theythenalteredtheir

responsestoamorenegativeandcounteractiveapproach.Thebelittlingcomments

thattheypostedontheirblogswereaformofself‐enhancement,andatacticof

someonewhoshowstraitsofbothanelitist,andacompensatoryindividualwith

NPD.Thecommentsthattheiraudiencemadewerenotmonitoredhowever,and

couldnotbetakenintoconsiderationforthisstudy.

Limitations

Someofthelimitationsthatexistedthroughoutthisstudyweretheprocess

ofcodingtheblogsthatwereselected.Forthisstudy,therewasonlyone

subcategoryofMillon’sNPDpersonalityframeworkselected,elitist.However,it

wasseenintheirblogsthatbothWheatonandXiaxueexhibitedpossibletraitsof

thosewhowouldcouldbeclassifiedintheotherthreesubcategoriesofNPD

(amorous,compensatory,unprincipled).TheothersubcategoriesthatMillonlays

outhavefeaturesthatarecombinationsofotherpersonalitytraits(i.e.

compensatoryhasnegativistic,avoidantfeatures).Theothersubcategorieswere

notfocusedon,andcouldbeforfuturestudies.

Otherlimitationsmayhavebeentheindividualswhowereselectedforthe

studyitself.TheelitistcategorywaschosenbecauseMillondefineditasthemost

pureformofNPD.Hedescribedthetraitsofthosewhosufferedfromtheelitist

formofNPDtobethosewhoseconceptoflifeisanentitledfaçade,bearslittle

relationtoreality,andfeelsempoweredbyvirtueofspecialchildhoodstatusand

pseudoachievements.ThoseweresomeofthekeyfactorsastowhybothWheaton

andXiaxuewereselected.Wheatonwasselectedbecauseofhisprevioussuccessas

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 56

achildactor,withtheentitlementthatwaspotentiallygeneratedbecauseofhis

career.Xiaxuewasselectedbecauseofherpseudoachievementsonherblogwith

thenumberofreaders,aswellasbytheawardsthatshehadreceivedonlineforher

blogitself,thusenablinghertobecalledacelebrity.BothofthemwerewhatIfelt

wereprimeexamplesof“B‐list”celebrities,whopublishedtheirblogsona

consistentbasis,andhadalargeamountoffollowersontheirsocialmediasites.

Therecouldhavebeenotherindividualsselectedforthisnotjustbylooking

attheelitistsubcategory.Wordpress,Blogger,Yahoo,andotherwebsitesranktheir

mostpopularbloggerseachyear,andpostthestatisticsofhowmanypeoplefollow

theirblogs,andhowmanyhitstheyhaveonanannualbasis.Otherbloggerswho

areonthetopoftheirlistscouldhavebeenselectedforthisstudy,andmayhave

beenanalyzedtoseeiftheyalsoexhibitNPDcontentontheirblogsaswell.

TheoreticalContributions

Researchhadbeendoneintheseparatefieldsofcommunicationand

psychology.Aspecificstudywasthepotentialdevelopmentofnarcissisminthe

realmofonlinemedia.MendelsonandPapacharissi(2010),aswellasBuffardiand

Campbell’s(2008)mainfocusintheirresearchwasonNPDtraitsseenonwebsites

suchasFacebook.comandMyspace.com.TherewerealsostudiesdonebyEkdale,

Kang,Fung,andPerlmutter(2010)onthemotivatingfactorsforblogpostingstobe

madebyparticipants,studyingthemotivatingfactorsforcontinualupdates.Their

researchonblogupdateswasdonesolelyfromapsychologicalperspective,andnot

fromacommunicationstandpoint.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 57

Thisstudy,however,wasacombinationofboththepsychologicaland

communicationaspectsofsocialmedia,analyzingagrowingtrendofInternetself‐

publicationanddiscussingthemotivationsfortheirpostings,morespecifically,by

takingaparticularpsychologicaldisorder,NPD,andexaminingthepotential

developmentofitstraitsinanindividualavenueofsocialmedia,weblogging.Other

socialmediasitessuchasFacebookandMyspacecouldalsobesomeofthemain

contributingfactorsinthedevelopmentofpersonalitydisorders,suchasNPD,

howevertheirparticularcontentwasnotanalyzedforthisstudy.

Inhisresearch,Millonlaidout14mainpersonalitydisordersthatanyoneat

anygiventimemaydevelop.ThisstudybrokedownthefundamentalsofNPDand

categorizeditbeingmadeknowninpersonalbehavior.Followingthis,the

behaviorswerethenrecognizedinbloggingitself,andnotjustanalyzedinsocial

mediaasawhole.Webloggingmaybeviewedasamuchmoreintricateformof

personaldisclosurebecauseofthedetailedexplanationsintoapersonsbehavior,

andnotjustaquicktwosentencestatusupdateasshownonFacebook.

Fromacommunicationpointofview,socialmediahasbecomeamainstream

formofrelationshipbuildingandinteraction,withFacebookstatuses,twitter

accounts,andblogsbeingagatewayformassamountsofpeopletostayupdated

aboutdailyoccurrencesinanindividual’slife.Thisstudyanalyzedthecontentthat

thesubjectsusedtocommunicatewiththeiraudience,andalsodiscussedthe

potentialtechniquesandtacticsthatcouldhavepotentiallybeenusedtoattracta

largeraudience.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 58

Psychologically,thisstudybranchedoutfrompreviousreviewsofsocial

mediasitesthatweredesignedmainlyfornetworkingpurposes,suchasFacebook

andMyspace.TheareaofWeblogginghasbeenusedasanextendedformof

publications,aswellasanavenueforpotentialwriterstogainfanbasesand

audiencesbyreadingmaterialthatismorethanjustafewsentenceslong.Because

ofthemorein‐depthcharacterthatcouldbeformedthroughbloggingbylengthy

postsmadebytheauthors,theremayalsobeadeeperreachintopotential

personalitydisorderssuchasNPDthatmaybenoticeableonasubject’swebsite.

Thisstudywasamorein‐depthanalysisbystudyingnotjustthesurfaceofsocial

mediastatusupdates,butbygoingdeeperintowhatcouldbeclassifiedasanonline

journal,andgaveamuchgreaterperspectiveonaperson’sindividualcharacterwith

theirconsistentblogposts.

FutureStudies

TheUsesandGratificationsTheorysuggeststhatusersareengagedinseeking

outthetypesofmediaandnetworkingthatinturngoesontosatisfyourown

particularneeds.Katz,Blumler,andGurevitch(1974)proposedthattheaudienceis

goal‐orientated,andactivelypursuingthosegratifications,whatevertheymaybe.

KayeandJohnson(2004)pointoutthat“peopleactivelysearchoutcertainmedia

andmediacontenttosatisfyparticularneeds”(p.199).Variablesthatcomposethe

theorywereshownbyRubin(1994)wholiststhefactorsas“people’sneedsand

motivestocommunicate,thepsychologicalandsocialenvironment,themassmedia,

functionalalternativestomediause,communicationbehavior,andthe

consequencesofsuchbehavior”(p.419).

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 59

Therecouldinfactbeasimilaritydrawnbythereasoningforapersontouse

bloggingasatooltogratifytheirnarcissisticpersonalityneeds.Insome

circumstances,individualsmayusebloggingtogainfavorintheireyesbytheir

peersandfollowers.Thepotentialgratificationsthattheyareseekingcouldalsobe

thesamemannerismsthatMillonlistsofsomeonewhohasNPD.

Theremayalsobefuturestudiesthatbringmoresubjectsintocontext,than

justtwoindividualswhowereclassifiedasB‐listcelebrities.Thereisanabundance

oftrademarkedbloggersforspecificsubjectsandtopics.Researchcouldbefocused

onalargersamplingofbloggerswhofocustheirpostingsonspecifictopics.By

studyingmorethanjusttheB‐listcelebritiesthatwereselectedforthisstudy,

attentioncouldalsobefocusedontheothersub‐categoriesofNPD,unprincipled,

amorous,andcompensatory.

WheatonandXiaxuewereselectedforthisstudybecausetheircharacter

traitsappearedtocloselymatchthetraitslistedbyMillonforsomeonewhosuffers

fromtheelitistformofNPD.However,thisisnotsomethingthatsignifiedthemas

uniquefromotherbloggersaswell.Multiplecategoriesofa“celebrity”couldbe

takenintoconsiderationforfuturestudies.Acelebritywouldnotjusthavetobe

someonewhogainedsuccessasachildactor,orreceivedmultipleWeblogawards.

Theycouldinfactbeclassifiedasanindividualwhohasgainedasubstantialamount

ofpopularityonline,orintheentertainmentbusiness.WheatonandXiaxue’s

personalitiesarenotexpresslydifferentfromotherB‐Listcelebrities,therefore

theirbehaviorsarenotexclusivecomparedtootherpotentialsubjectsforfuture

analysis.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 60

Theintentofthisstudywastogainabetterunderstandingofhowsocial

networkinghasinfluencedoursocietytodevelopstrongertraitsandcharacteristics

thatareassociatedwithnarcissism.Takingonlinecommunicationtoolsthatare

mademoreandmoreaccessibletousonaconstantbasishasaidedourabilityto

connectwithpeopleallacrosstheglobe.However,havethestridesthatouronline

culturehasmadecrippledthehumilityanddown‐to‐earthdemeanorthatweonce

hadadecadeago?ItcanbeseenfrombothaB‐listHollywoodcelebrity,andbyan

onlinebloggingdiva,thatnarcissismmayinfactbeadevelopingproblemamong

individualswhoselivescateraroundacomputerscreen,andtallytheupvotes,

comments,andreceptionthattheyreceivefromahiddenaudienceoffollowers.

WhetherornotdisorderssuchasNPDcanbeestablishedanddevelopedovertime

iscontingentonthemotivationalreasoningbehindwhyanindividualiseven

writingabloginthefirstplace.

SOCIALMEDIANARCISSISM 61

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AppendixAPostsfromthefollowingblogsanddaterangeswereselectedastextsofanalysis. WWdN:InExile(September2005–December2011) Xiaxue(September2005–December2011)