A comprehensive guide for understanding how narcissism on social media impacts our mental health, how to protect ourselves and our children from those affects as well as from narcissists, and how to use social media more mindfully. The Facebook Narcissist is the first book dedicated to exploring the relationship between narcissism and social media. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist certified in Imago therapy, delves into how social media enhances individual and cultural narcissism and how it may create or exacerbate toxic narcissistic tendencies in people who use it. Using her clinical expertise, along with scientific research and interviews with other experts in the field, she thoroughly examines: how narcissism on social media contributes to false narratives and ruptures relationships; how to identify a narcissist on social media (including how to spot the more subtle sub-types of narcissist, such as the covert, communal, and collective narcissist); how narcissism relates to the "influencer" and celebrity culture; narcissism and cyberbullying, cyberstalking, trolling, and victim blaming on social media; narcissism related to racism and politics on social media; the ways social media can create a problem of narcissism in children as they grow up, the implications of "sharenting"; and more. Readers will discover case studies and real examples of narcissists and how they present on social media.
Derhally's expertise in cultivating healthy, fulfilling, and connected relationships helps guide readers to take a deeper look at their behaviors on social media and of those around them. At the end of each chapter, she gives practical tips and takeaways for navigating narcissism online. Since abandoning our devices is impractical and not likely, this book will help readers understand how to use social media in a balanced way that inspires fulfillment and connection instead of the entitlement, attention-seeking, and lack of empathy that is at the heart of narcissism. Derhally also instructs readers on how they may use social media for good, and as a tool for positive social change. Social media is here to stay, but with education and awareness on how it makes us and the world more narcissistic, we can change the narrative and focus on the ways in which social media can be positive, and even improve the world for the better.
