Narcissistic, Jean Twenge Describes Attitude Net Geners?

¶ … narcissistic," Jean Twenge describes attitude Net Geners? Do describes attitude? Please wr A relatively modest amount of controversy exists around what some people refer to as Generation Y, Generation Me, or Net Geners. Essentially, there are some people who are concerned that a confluence of factors is responsible for making this generation preoccupied with themselves in an unhealthy way. Those factors include the reality that many individuals in this generation have grown up in a world in which technology was instantly accessible.

Demands for instant gratification due to the ubiquity and the pervasive nature of technologies such as the internet and those of the mobile devices that enable continuous access to the world at large have arguably accounted for a generation in which people are concerned about themselves and their own needs in a way that is disproportionate to that of other generations.

Additionally, concepts such as the purported feminization of education and the social paradigm in which everyone wins and is rewarded for effort -- regardless of performance -- may have bolstered this phenomenon. A prolonged analysis of an essay from one of the most reputed sociologists reporting on this phenomenon and personal experience reveals that for the most part, Net Geners are afflicted with some level of narcissism.

Prior to deconstructing Twenge's essay in which she discusses this tendency of Net Geners to display traits of narcissism, it is necessary to define this term to see how it applies to this generation both collectively and individually. Narcissism is a preoccupation with oneself to the exclusion of other factors including others, their needs, one's surroundings, and virtually everything else as well.

It is a concern with one's individuality and a prioritization of one's desires and needs above those of others in such a way that this constant preoccupation precludes healthy relationships, stability, and otherwise positive interaction with society as a whole. Narcissistic, of course, is the adjective of the aforementioned noun and readily describes a person who evinces the preceding characteristics. There are several reasons that account for Twenge's belief that Net Geners are inherently narcissistic.

As previously mentioned, this generation is the only one that has grown up with the current bevy of technological advances as a daily part of their lives. The author believes that the widespread usage of applications such as social media via platforms such as the internet encourage narcissism by creating an atmosphere in which people are actively seeking attention.

Sites such as Twitter and Facebook, which allow people to quite literally mention or post any aspect o their lives for the world to view can function in such a way that they garner a significant amount of attention for people. There are several people in Generation Y who are fascinated with such web sites, and who spend a considerable amount of their time taking pictures and creating videos of relatively mundane things so they can show them to the world.

Additionally, Twenge relates the reliance on technology to the relative lack of stability in the lives and livelihoods of this generation, which has also grown up in tumultuous economic and war faring times. The author posits that such daily uncertainty can replace the conventional values and mores associated with more stable times in which members of other generations grew up. Lastly, shifting in education policies in which virtually everyone was rewarded for effort has contributed to an unparalleled sense of entitlement among this generation.

My personal experience suggests that there is a good deal of sapience in many of the notions Twenge has in regards to categorizing members of the Net Geners as narcissistic. I have certainly seen people of this generation exhibit an almost fanatic reliance on technology -- I remember recently reading a story about a group of teenagers who trapped one of their 'friends' in a house and physically assaulted her while filming the incident and later posting it on Facebook.

Moreover, it is not uncommon to see teenagers and those who are recently removed from adolescence in public venues such as a restaurant, a club, or perhaps even the mall, very obviously removed from their surroundings and those who are around them because they are absorbed in some sort of mobile device. Doing so makes them seem somewhat antisocial, especially when they are in groups of family and friends.

Additionally, I have a cousin who will turn 14 later this year who is definitely excited by technology and allows it to play a central role in her life. I was at a family.