Narcissism, selfies, steroids, social media...

Ruu · 02-06-2016 02:11PM

Hey those are "progress" pictures!

DEFTLEFTHAND · 02-06-2016 02:14PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Because they have entered bodybuilding competitions. Now granted that may be possible (albeit rare) for a serious athlete, but this would be guys in their early 30, in one case a few months after giving up a 10 year drinking and recreational drug habit. Even his cheeks are sculpted...:D

Steroid dependency is well documented. They are often used as a short cut...but no one really comes off them once they start getting praise for the way they look. It all feeds into the same dependency cycle.

Look for recently developed acne on the back. Sure sign of steroid abuse.

Bunny Colvin · 02-06-2016 02:15PM

Everyone on Facebook is their own minister for propaganda. Nobody will ever post anything that shows them in a bad light. While it definitely has its benefits, I think it can be all very vain.

I once went with a girl who used Facebook to try and hurt me when she felt I wasn't living up to her expectations. An example being, she wanted me one day to get off work and bring her to the beach (which wasn't possible and if you're working then you're working). Anyways, she didn't contact me all day, I logged into Facebook when work was quiet and low and behold, she had gone to the beach without mentioning it to me with her friends! I found out because she had her profile picture changed, her cover picture changed and a status's up all showing her 'great day out'. This turned out to be a common occurrence.

Passive aggressive behaviour can be used on social media. I often thought the likes of my Oul Man didn't have to put up with that (neither did I suppose). While social media and technology has evolved hugely in recent times, it has also created problems. I would hate to have grown up with Facebook in secondary school for example.

valoren · 02-06-2016 02:15PM

They all want to look like body builders yet what they see in magazines and on stage is what those same body builders look like for perhaps 1 month of the year for competitions. The rest of the time they are massive blobs of fat, muscle and skin as they are eating like horses to bulk up then trimming the fat gradually for their competitive months. It's a false impression but whatever motivates people then who am I to worry.

Grandeeod · 02-06-2016 02:17PM

screamer wrote: »

Stupid people with no brains don't bother me. I don't use face ache at all you need to be a certain type to be attracted to it as a self promotional platform. It's all fake and contrived. I prefer to live my life than try to go around making others envious of it.......

This.

I gave up that FB sh1te long ago. The other half only dabbles in it now and again. But we did get a great laugh a few weeks back, when one of her "friends" put up 10 pics a day for every day of her holiday. Why would you do that?

aaronjumper · 02-06-2016 02:19PM

This thread needs more me.

I don't mind it most of the time but if you head out specifically to see people and they are trying to take photos and post it the whole time you're out it can get annoying.
Like the night didn't really happen unless they can put up at least ten pictures of them out.

02-06-2016 02:20PM

I use online dating and the amount of people that take photos of themselves in the same angle, with the same expression, is pretty alarming. In. Every. Photo.

osarusan · 02-06-2016 02:25PM

andekwarhola wrote: »

To be fair, there's an equivalent surfeit of people on social media fishing for likes with frequent denunciations of other people's 'vacuous' activity on social media.

I sometimes think about 10% of people actually realize they can filter their social media feeds.

I think people like to see this stuff so they can moan about it.

screamer · 02-06-2016 02:29PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I use online dating and the amount of people that take photos of themselves in the same angle, with the same expression, is pretty alarming. In. Every. Photo.

One dimensional people...... I'm not surprised TBH.

BlondeMoment · 02-06-2016 02:29PM

I used to go on nights out wth girls from my old workplace. They would sit in the corner and take poised selfie after selfie and post them online, letting on to be the best craic ever to hang out with, look at us, were out drinking arent we great!, when really to everyone else in the pub they were the boring shytes in the corner.

The worst culprit would constantly ask me to get into photos, and I was so sick of it that I would just start trying to pull the most ridiculous faces I could so she couldnt use the them. Used to p!ss her off no end! She eventually stopped asking me to get into photos

Zillah · 02-06-2016 02:33PM

LexieOnRale wrote: »

What's wrong with being narcissistic though

Narcissism is fundamentally rooted in insecurity. They develop a warped self-image in the hopes of staving off the self-loathing and doubt that is bubbling beneath the surface. Narcissists are miserable people, constantly chasing an ideal they can never achieve, always desperately bailing out the sinking ship of their ego.

andekwarhola · 02-06-2016 02:35PM

osarusan wrote: »

I think people like to see this stuff so they can moan about it.

Makes me think of an acquaintance on FB. I do like them but had to unfollow their posts (you do realize you can do this, folks?) as so many of them were caustic, showboating judgments on the kind of posts that one - unbelievable as it may seem - expects to find on a personal social media platform on Facebook, such as innocently mundane family snaps, life events, check-ins to bars etc.

Of course, the same person labours under the significant delusion that their entire friend list is waiting with bated breath for such posts (and their flood of cryptic political anecdotes and in-jokes).

At the end of the day, anybody that posts on social media (and especially on social media where you control your audience) is seeking validation of some sort from other people. And constantly parodying and denouncing to impress others is just as much an appeal for affirmation/likes as middle aged women posting Wine O'Clock pictures for their mates.

briany · 02-06-2016 02:38PM

If you're going to be posting selfies to Instagram, at least have the honesty to select an angle that more accurately depicts your double-chin. If the people liking the picture have actually met you, you're fooling no-one.

02-06-2016 02:42PM

briany wrote: »

If you're going to be posting selfies to Instagram, at least have the honesty to select an angle that more accurately depicts your double-chin. If the people liking the picture have actually met you, you're fooling no-one.

Much as I despise selfies, I don't see why anyone would take and upload a picture of themselves where they aren't looking their best.

andekwarhola · 02-06-2016 02:46PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I use online dating and the amount of people that take photos of themselves in the same angle, with the same expression, is pretty alarming. In. Every. Photo.

It's a dating site where people are trying to entice other people into relationships and/or sex. Creative or vérité photography probably isn't a pressing concern, I would imagine.

briany · 02-06-2016 02:47PM

Candie wrote: »

Much as I despise selfies, I don't see why anyone would take and upload a picture of themselves where they aren't looking their best.

It's not really their best, though. It's sort of a warped representation, a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror.

02-06-2016 02:51PM

briany wrote: »

It's not really their best, though. It's sort of a warped representation, a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror.

It's their best in a photo, and a photo isn't real life - it doesn't have to be. It can just be a nice photo for it's own sake.

I have photos of me all dressed up in dresses and skirts, does that mean if someone meets me in jeans and a t-shirt in real life they'd think I was misrepresenting myself?

briany · 02-06-2016 03:03PM

Candie wrote: »

It's their best in a photo, and a photo isn't real life - it doesn't have to be. It can just be a nice photo for it's own sake.

Well, if that's all it is, then fine.

I have photos of me all dressed up in dresses and skirts, does that mean if someone meets me in jeans and a t-shirt in real life they'd think I was misrepresenting myself?

If they met you and it became apparent that you were about 150 pounds heavier than your pictures let on, or you had a receding hairline, hidden due to artfully cropped or angled photos, then I would say a little bit, yeah.

retro:electro · 02-06-2016 03:06PM

I actually look better in real life than in photos. I'm always stiff and awkward in photos and can never fully relax when there's a camera about; in real life I'm a free spirit and sexy as hell!

Also, there's nothing worse than when you're getting to know someone, say at a wedding or an event, and the two of you are having a laugh and then they pull out the camera and go "selfie", get to fcuk.

Olishi4 · 02-06-2016 03:06PM

Some people take it too far and it's obvious but I don't see the harm in someone taking the odd selfie or posting a nice picture of themself.

From my "friends" on facebook, people mostly put up family pictures, special occasions, night's out, holidays, jokes, travelling, pets etc. I often hear people complain about these but i dont know if facebook would exist without them? I'm in a few music groups but they are not very active. Not sure if I'm missing something there.

Some post things that i find distasteful, boring or oversharing but i dont feel the need to block them or anything, i just scroll on. I post something maybe once or twice a month.

I do find that people taking pictures of everything and anything can be annoying and take people away from really enjoying their experiences.

Tasden · 02-06-2016 03:07PM

Ah I dunno, I'm not on facebook, never got into it but I think if I was good looking and i enjoyed facebook I'd post lots of selfies, and I don't think it'd have anything to do with deep rooted insecurities, I'd just enjoy having an aesthetically pleasing face and showing that off to people who don't. I don't see the big deal tbh

Your Face · 02-06-2016 03:14PM

Deleted User wrote: »

After a few ultra marathons, I wouldn't class myself as an out of shape sweat hog. I'd be fit, and pretty used to a gym...hence I can discern the difference between the power lifting types and those whose achievement is reaching around to injection steroids into their backside and take selfies of themselves at the gym.

You seem very insecure. All those big boys must be scaring you. Good thing you can run.

02-06-2016 03:15PM

Tasden wrote: »

I'd just enjoy having an aesthetically pleasing face and showing that off to people who don't. I don't see the big deal tbh

Why would you get pleasure out of showing off to less attractive people?

Genuine question, I don't see the reward there.

Tasden · 02-06-2016 03:17PM

Candie wrote: »

Why would you get pleasure out of showing off to less attractive people?

Genuine question, I don't see the reward there.

I wouldn't know because I'm not in a position to do so!

andekwarhola · 02-06-2016 03:24PM

Olishi4 wrote: »

From my "friends" on facebook, people mostly put up family pictures, special occasions, night's out, holidays, jokes, travelling, pets etc.

That's what it's for.

It's hard to guess what the people - that detest it so much - actually expect from an interactive social media platform that it isn't mandatory to join and to/from which they can strictly control content and contacts.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 02-06-2016 03:37PM

kunst nugget wrote: »

Great for you, boring as shíte for everyone else. Narcissism stops you developing as a person and destroys any hope of empathizing with others. Also, can anyone ever be happy spending all their time analyzing themselves and trying to achieve some notion of self perfection? If you think that sounds like a great thing to do, knock yourself out.

I'm a firm believer of making yourself happy first and foremost. If spending an hour in front of the mirror looking at your hair makes you happy, then what about it? I'm beyond getting bogged down with whatever someone else is doing unless it is directly affecting me. Couldn't be dealing with anyone else's dramas or problems, have enough of my own. So if someone wants to be vain and narcissistic, as long as it's not interfering with me, let them get on with it.

A_smurf · 02-06-2016 03:41PM

Honestly, speaking as one of the 'millenials' I've found that most of my friends and acquaintances on Facebook don't use it as much for the selfies and night out pictures. They are more aware that their profile is an extension of themselves, especially when it comes to the end of the college years and beyond. Snapchat seems to be more popular, seeing as once you send a picture to your story or a friend, it is automatically deleted after 24 hours.

Foxtrol · 02-06-2016 03:42PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I think anyone who changes their pic multiple times to harvest likes, or takes steroids to enhance their body, fundamentally doesn't feel good about themselves at all and they are searching for reassurance and affirmation.

I’m intrigued the line people draw when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Most people have issues with what you posted yet many of the same have no qualms about makeup, hair extensions, chicken fillets etc that fundamentally change the way a person looks. In another thread I was set upon for stating that they use these for reassurance and affirmation from others, but apparently they’re only doing it for themselves, yet no one seems to have issues with the same comments about the likes of steroids.

Autonomous Cowherd · 02-06-2016 03:53PM

I have a private FB account with no friends and use it to follow pages I like and get stimulating input ...art, films, news, esoteric stuff etc. All this talk about selfies etc and rampant narcissism on FB seems to me to be a perfect way to discriminate and weed out arseholes. Let them have at it, and pucker up endlessly with their camera faces and sucked in cheeks and abdominals...some day something in life will seem more important to them.

Junkyard Tom · 02-06-2016 03:58PM

We've come along way from queuing at a phone box and mentioning the slagging you got because of your new haircut.

Narcissism, selfies, steroids, social media...

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