“Purging my friends list. Good luck making the cut”: Perceptions of narcissism on Facebook

Social media sites such as Facebook are thought to act as a platform for narcissistic behavior, such as posting self-promoting status updates or attractive photos. Narcissism is identifiable via social media, and it has been associated with negative peer appraisals. This article presents three studies with undergraduate students that examined the interpersonal implications of narcissism on Facebook in light of gender and perceiver narcissism. Results indicated that hypothetical targets who posted narcissistic status updates were perceived as less likeable, less successful, and less worthy of friendship than those who posted neutral status updates. Across the three studies, perceiver narcissism and target gender had some apparent influences on ratings. Implications regarding social media behavior and the interpersonal consequences of narcissism are discussed.