With the abandonment of traditional ties, which in the past determined the social position of individuals, we today, in modern society encounter a process of individualization, which to individuals dictates to invent their own role in society. Individualization and the tendency to differentiate oneself from others in a capitalist-oriented society, is strongly intertwined with a culture of consumerism that offers endless choices of clothing styles, material goods and lifestyles. With consumerism we also encounter the rise of narcissism, which passes from its normal form to the pathological level and is as such a socially necessary form of subjectivity in modern society. That is only deepened by consumer-oriented culture, which is clearly reflected in the virtual space of social networks, within which obtaining narcissistic confirmation is extremely easy. Social networks are highly controlled environments that offer many ways of self-promotion (self-descriptions, arousing admiration and attention from others through photos, accumulation of long list of friends and followers etc.). All these features overlap with the characteristics of the modern pathological narcissist, that modern capitalist society desperately needs for its own functioning.
|
