I'm not a narcissist, at least as far as I can self diagnose. But, I think the way people use the internet and especially social networking is introducing a bit of narcissism that is very difficult to escape as a member of the connected population at large.
Like many people I know, I spend a lot of time on Facebook and to a much lesser extent now, Myspace. A couple of nights back I decided that my main profile picture was starting to feel a bit stale so I went through the handily linked list of pictures I am tagged in (758 and growing) to find a new virtual head shot. As I mostly failed at this task- skipping over many ridiculous and unflattering pictures before finally settling on a mildly ridiculous picture where at least I'm dressed in snazzy wear- old thoughts from the back of my mind returned about the nature of an individual's constructed online persona and how it correlates and conflicts with the real person's persona.
As I've said before, it's astounding how much things have changed in just the past decade with the advent of the internet and the ubiquity of the cell phone. It's just bizarre to look back at the evolution of how people have used these tools and how they're now converging. I remember early on even way back when my friends and I used ICQ then jumped mostly to AOL Instant Messenger, people's "profiles" would start to include more and more information, going way beyond a simple about me. When I hit college in 2001, AIM was somewhat of a de facto social network of its own, to the point where people were checking away messages and profiles much more often than they were actually chatting with each other. In hindsight, it's hard to imagine why social networking sites didn't explode sooner.
When Facebook expanded to Purdue's campus somewhere around 2004/5, I joined as a curiosity. It was mostly worthless then, just a picture and about me sort of thing, with ways to find common classmates. I already had AIM, why would I want to browse the all aim profile website? But over time something started to happen- as the network grew so did the value of the site. Imagine that. Then myspace came on the scene and though I was resistant to it as the home of idiot pre teens and idiots in general, the network of friends there and the new ways they were interacting with each other became increasingly interesting. And as the interactions increased, so did the intricacy in crafting the information that was the public face of the user to the network.
Cut forward to now- with the various networks copying and expanding features, even adding chat as a secondary feature (welcome back to AIM) they have become more than a way of looking people up, they're becoming integral in how people interact and communicate. I know many people who would first send a message or post on a wall before sending an email, even if they have the address handy. Event organizing and photo sharing have all been co-opted, because when you combine information with easy access to your network of friends and family it becomes even more valuable.
But, do we act the same as our online counterpart as we do in the flesh? How much is filtered out? The unflattering pictures, the bad moments, etc. How many of us are consciously or unconsciously limiting information in order to be seen differently than as we are? To be fair, this happens 'in real life' all the time. It takes time to get to know the real person rather than their representative, as Chris Rock will tell you. However, the amount of tools currently at our disposal to put our best face forward is greater than ever. In fact, not using them can have a serious detrimental effect.
With companies and colleges and potential dates searching social networks and the internet in general for information on people, allowing the real person to have too much visibility can be hazardous. Personally I tend to let the 'real me' out on purpose more than most, at least in my opinion. But you can bet I use those privacy controls to their fullest extent and with all their granularity. I am happy I'm not searching for a new job or school just because of the amount of effort required to make sure I look as good as possible is beyond exasperating. As for dates, the sooner they find out about the real me, the better. 
Since I enjoy pouring my thoughts and misadventures out onto the internet at large, I've even created this whole so and so pseudonym as a mild bit of security through obscurity. But as any security student knows, this is woefully inadequate. A google search for my name has my twitter profile on the first page of results. But not before a couple of results for someone who shares my name, the openly gay musical composer. Compose on, brother.
Either way, I hope as connectivity continues to expand and more of our communication is done electronically instead of face to face, we collectively find a way to maintain our sense of who we are really amidst the snapshots we leave facing the window. The more we have to dig to find the person the more time we waste.
Can you see the real me doctor?
*Classic hits is an attempt to consolidate all my internet written content, and also to revisit it from the present*
One of my original stream of consciousness updates, this one from December of 2003. My musings on longing a bit for the real world are funny now given I would kill for 3 weeks off for Christmas even if I had to work 100 hours next week, but hey the grass is always greener. Sometimes I think I'd like to go back to school full time, but those thoughts are fleeting.
The mention of my astronomy class is a funny memory, because somehow my lab group ended up being me and three girls, and I ended up just doing all the lab work and then explaining it to them. All three were nice- one of them was attractive, another was extremely attractive, and was the subject of another throwaway comment, but she gave me the laugh and the arm touch I ended up commenting on in another entry. If only I could have developed some more self confidence earlier in my life, ha. C'est la vie. I probably wouldn't even recognize her face if I saw her today anyhow. The mention of the discrete math is a less funny memory, as that class mostly sucked.
Snoop style izzle speak has mostly disappeared in the intervening 5 years, aside from the occasional extremely lame dad or over-ironic hipster. The original image that was there was the photoshopped weather map with every word ending in izzle. It's decidedly less funny now, heh.
I'm your huckleberry
Yes, folks it's that time of the year again- finals week in lovely West Lafayette, Indiana. I'm not really all that well prepared, but then again I never am really. Only a couple of my 5 tests are going to be really difficult anyway, and the rest should be more common sense than anything.
It's always weeks like this when I wish I was out of school and in the "real world." Only I think I would probably be too hip, fresh, and in-your-face for most of the rest of the housemates on the show, and would never show up to the ludicrous novelty job on time. In all seriousness, it's going to be nice to (probably) make more money than I am now and truly live on my own without having to take out loans to do so, but now that I think about it I'm perfectly happy going to school and learning stuff. It's just when you have to prove that you learned something that it gets annoying.
Speaking of school, that reminds me- one of the girls from my astronomy class (hi Natulya) called me out during lab regarding my little rant piece that you can still read below a while back. She asked if I considered myself a "Nice Guy" and if I was bitter about girls. While my tone may have come off as bitter, that's not the effect I was going for entirely. I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the answers, but I've got a pretty good handle on some of them I think. That doesn't mean it's actually helped me any.
Anywho, any other questions on philosophy of relationships, discrete math, or Seinfeld references can be posted in the comments.
After watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on tv this weekend, it makes me wish there were more "children's" stories that have kind of a strange imaginative angle to them. It makes me want to go back and read some Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll.
And finally, I would like to try and convince people to stop spouting Snoopspeak (AOL comercial? Come on, Calvin) before I go insane. Flippity Floppity Floo. If we don't stop now, this could be the future......
(thank you to the SA forums, one of my primary sources of entertainment)