It is the narcissistic middle-aged, not the young, who love Facebook and Twitter | Hacker News Reader

It is the narcissistic middle-aged, not the young, who love Facebook and Twitter

spectator.co.uk

19 pointsminus13 comments

One 15-year-old writes about his friends, and dozens of writers mistake it for actual data.

In case my point is not clear: we don't actually know the demographic break-down of who uses social internet sites like Twitter and Facebook. At least, I don't, and I've never read anyone cite any studies. Consequently, this piece, and write-ups like it, are speculation.

Yes, this is an opinion piece, not based on any particular evidence, not the conclusion of a scientific study.

Opinion pieces are fine, as long as they explicitly state the status of the premise that they start from. In this case, the premise he starts from is "most users of social internet sites are not teenagers." Then the opinion part of the piece tries to explain why that is.

My complaint is that there's no evidence for his premise. In other words, he's trying to explain something that might not be true in the first place. I worry that he, and his readers, don't know the distinction.

Well, here's some studies.

Twitter's demographics: http://www.istrategylabs.com/twitter-2009-demographics-and-s...

Facebook's demographics: http://www.istrategylabs.com/2009-facebook-demographics-and-...

Twitter does slant older. 52% of Twitter users are over 34, whereas only 8.5% of Facebook's users are over 34.

I think these kind of articles miss the point of "status updates". For most people, it's not really narcissistic behavior so much as it is efficient social communication. Of course you can find outliers, douche bags are everywhere with or without Twitter/Fb.

I can't tell you how many times I've caught a drink, attended a community event, or grabbed a bite to eat with my friend(s) simply because I read he was nearby, etc. Real-time communication makes things more exciting for people that like more spontaneity in their life. I think introverts tend to have a problem with it, and are the most critical of others having fun and socializing.

Maybe.

But if we look at the historical significance of the Internet, it was built by and has been largely dominated by introverts. The Internet has always kind of been the one place we can all "find each other" to have interesting, stimulating conversation while the rest of the world gabs about trivial things.

However, Facebook, Twitter (to some extent), et. al, have really brought extroverts in full-force to the Internet, and to some extent they are encroaching on our "space." The hype has definitely clogged up the noise-to-signal ratio, and weeding through all of the extraneous fluff can be tiresome.

So maybe it's not that introverts are exactly "critical," of the new narcissistic "lookie at me! lookie at magazine cover!" vibe the Internet has taken on, but that it subtracts substantially from what makes the Internet interesting.

I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph. :)

Reminds me of this classic image: http://i26.tinypic.com/e8lfu1.jpg

I would say that that's the vibe I get from Twitter on occasion.

It is funny how the isolated impression of one 15-year-old is being used to define an entire generation's supposed social networking habits.

I am a boomer, but no particular fan of boomers, yet one who will stand up and say that boomers, like others, come in all shapes and sizes and are not all strutting peacocks, contrary to what the author says or implies.

And since when does using social networking to better connect with friends, or for any of a number of business, social, or other purposes, become a mere outlet for vanity?

Even if his premise were true, the author does a lame job of advancing it.

How many times do we have to hear this tired screed about social media? Try googling twitter and narcissism, and you will see what I mean. Some of my brethren in the Christian community are the worst offenders. I mean, it's popular, so there must be something wrong with it, right? Narcissism is the closest they can come, and so they milk it for all it's worth.

The medium doesn't make the message. Twitter provides wonderful control over what you see, and thus, it is what you make of it. Follow people that use it in a way that you, yourself, find useful.

Whoa! It's like they know me. That's: http://twitter.com/cdibona for those looking to see how awesome I am.

Seriously though, did we need a link to obviousland today? It that what HN is for?

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