Narcissism, anonymity and the decline of real connection
What started as a platform for connection is now a breeding ground for narcissism, trolling, and performative outrage. A 2017 study in Computers in Human Behaviour linked excessive social media use with narcissistic personality traits, especially the need for admiration and approval. Over the past decade, the average person’s daily screen time has surged to more than 6.5 hours (I bet that’s low), and nearly half of teens now say they are online “almost constantly”. It’s no wonder the digital mirror has become the main stage.
Social media has become a political weapon. The Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed how personal Facebook data was weaponised to manipulate voters during the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US election. These weren’t isolated incidents; they were symptoms of a larger problem: a system that allows micro-targeted propaganda with zero accountability.
Neuroscience studies confirm that repetition of the same ideas and images strengthens neural pathways, making users more entrenched in their views, less open to dialogue, and more prone to tribal thinking. We’ve lost the shared reality that a cohesive society depends on. Social media didn’t just break our attention; it fractured our shared reality. Now everybody lives in their own reality.
