Millennials and Gen Z say Instagram is the most narcissistic app. Do you agree?

It’s almost as if narcissism validates our existence. Social media platforms make sure of it. And this comes as second nature to millennials and Gen-Z. Small wonder then, when a WhatsGoodly survey, had 64 percent of the 3,701 college students voting Instagram as the most narcissistic app from choices like Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. Also, 78 percent of egotistic millennials on Instagram admit that they, or someone they know, are guilty of deleting a post because it didn’t receive enough likes. And to boost that feeling of being cool, 67 percent admitted to making a determined effort to like the posts of people who return the favour. We asked people here what they think about narcissism being fuelled by these social media platforms and apps and which one in their opinion is the most narcissistic.

Expert-speak

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Anjali Chhabria agrees that Instagram is the most narcissistic app. According to her, “Gaining popularity by putting up pictures with personal edits gives one an edge to become one’s own cameraman. The instant upload and constant updates do bring out the narcissistic side of an individual.”

Dr Chhabria often deals with individuals with social media addictions and the most common age group is the teens and the 20s as there is a constant need for approval among them. “The number of followers, the number of posts and a constant comparison is commonly seen in both the genders. You see young boys putting up pictures of their chiselled body and at the same time of girls pouting. Snapchat and Instagram are the two apps that I hear my young clients using the most,” she informs.

So what factors would qualify for narcissism, when it comes to social media apps? Are the features available on these apps that promote narcissism to blame? Or is it purely to do with one’s self-obsession and popularity? Dr Chhabria says it’s a combination of both these factors. “Easy availability of features on the apps to beautify the pictures and also an innate need to put yourself out there in the world and expect appreciation and followers, likes and comments together leads to a rise in narcissistic tendencies,” she says.

Technology to blame

Santoshi Shetty, blogger for Thestyledge.com, who has a huge following on Instagram (approximately 262K as of now, too), agrees that Instagram is the most narcisstic app. “There are a lot of things on the app that help you look perfect. There’s also creativity involved, wherein you think, ‘How can I make this picture look perfect?’ After Instagram, next would be Snapchat, because there are many filters that can make you look cool.” According to her, it’s the exposure that these apps provide is what drives narcissism. “There are so many people, people whom you don’t know, strangers who look at you, follow you. And you want to look your best, look perfect at all times. It’s the exposure that fuels the narcissism,” she says.

Validation of existence

Stand-up comedian and writer Sorabh Pant says, “I think all social media is pretty narcissistic when you think about it. This constantly telling people about what you’re up to and seeking likes... the validation that we seek on social media is quite crazy, Personally, I don’t use Instagram for pushing myself as much as pushing random topics. If I put up a photo of myself, I usually get less likes than a photograph of my son. So, Instagram is narcissistic for my two-year-old baby who has no idea what narcissism even means! Same goes with Snapchat where I do stupid things from my point of view as a comedian and not somebody who’s deluded into thinking he looks amazing. I usually tend to use most of these apps for silly stupidity. And I just want people to validate my existence, I guess... which is narcissism in some form.”

Tinder’s most narcissistic?

According to Pant, the most narcissistic app has to be Tinder. He explains, “You go out there with such self-confidence and swipe, and you just assume that ‘Ah... look at me I have the authority to swipe whether you’re good-looking or interesting or attractive or no’. I have never used Tinder because I don’t think my ego could take the bruising of that. And I guess not using Tinder makes me more narcissistic because I don’t need this s***. Also, I’m married. Snapchat is fun. Instagram is a little, maybe a little narcissistic, but I mostly use these apps for self-flagellation, self-deprecation and stupidity. I follow a lot of attractive people on Instagram. For a lot of them, the narcissism is still very much there, whether they’re constantly taking pictures and putting it up. But I guess when they’re as good-looking as some of them are, it’s fine! I’m absolutely okay with their narcissism because it’s very appealing to the eye.”

Everyone cares

Stand-up comedian and writer, Anuvab Pal says, “Photographing yourself all the time for no apparent reason except when the food in front of you is reasonably good-looking is perhaps a sign of narcissism. Earlier, the only people who used to get photographed a lot were criminals. I used to think, what’s the point of photographing oneself, who cares? Apparently, everyone.”

According to Pal, Snapchat would be the most narcissistic app because, “Not only is it bad enough to photograph oneself and where one is there all the time, but you now want to make a video of your yourself with a dog’s face on it. Um, okay.”

Who are we to judge?

Prashanth Challapalli, Chief Integration Officer, Leo Burnett Group, South Asia, says that the word ‘millennials’ is being used and abused everywhere and somehow, a  millennial these days is being seen as irresponsible, narcissistic and hard to handle. “I have never agreed with that because my experience with this age group has been very different. Coming to Instagram, that is the platform that this age group feels most comfortable on and is probably the most relevant for them. For the older age groups, Facebook is still the platform of choice. And all of us love ‘social currency’. We want to tell the world what’s happening in our lives, our opinions on trends, etc, and Instagram is primarily a live content creation platform. It is about you and your point-of-view of the world around you in pictures. And don’t we all like to look good in pictures? Who has ever said that I am okay if I look bad in a snap? Is it, however, being taken to an extreme level with selfies, face-tuning and other enhancement apps? Maybe, yes. And if ‘narcissistic’ is how they are being labelled and that is how Instagram is getting branded — as long as the core audience of that platform is happy clicking away and posting — I say, more power to them. Who are we to judge?,” he asks.