Social Networking Narcissism

Image via CrunchBase

As I try to understand why so many people are interested in twitter I think I may have stumbled upon a clue.

I have explained before, that I think twitter has more or less the same functionality as facebook status updates (further accentuated in the new layout) and if the desire is to interact in that format it seems futile to use a different platform. Especially when you have already cultivated a friend list that far exceeds your real social network. So why would anyone try to use a new platform and start the whole friend search game all over again.

Do you remember in the infant days of facebook how your amount of friends was a topic of conversation whereas now it seems irrelevant?

Image via CrunchBase

However, I think I now may understand the added benefit of twitter over facebook A persons facebook friend list has been completely devalued as any sign of social prowess whereas if you can achieve a larger following than followed ratio in twitter it is truly a sign of your celebrity and how much people care about your daily inanities.

This suggests that social networks are not only what they may say on the can, a useful method to connect people, but contain the same insecurities that real social settings possess. Just like in the real world people often crave popularity this is then translated to the internet and since facebook no longer provides that challenge people have now moved on to twitter, and facebook is now used for what it says on the can.

I'm not painting everyone with the same brush but I think there may be some truth lurking here.