Narcissism Best Served in 12 Seconds

Hey this is Nick O’Neill and I’m here today to tell you about ….. me!!!!!! Yes, I am wonderful [END CLIP].

That’s about all I and thousands of others of people can seem to talk about when they are provided with 12 seconds to talk to a video camera. There is a sudden boom of social video services that enable people to record and upload quick video clips of themselves. I’ve found that the majority of the content is simply people talking about themselves. Is this a particularly acute observation? Not really, if you didn’t realize this then you haven’t been viewing social media.

Social Media is Narcissistic

When I was waiting in line today to grab my Chipotle lunch I thought to myself that I’d post a tweet saying “Exhausted. Didn’t sleep much last night.” I’m not sure what exactly inspired this moment of deep insight but I can guarantee that absolutely nobody following me on Twitter cared whatsoever. They will simply ignore it in search of the next interesting post.

The problem with many of these services is that they were designed in ways that enable us to increase our narcissism. Who posted on my wall on Facebook? Did you comment on my blog post? Did you reply to my tweet? Me me me! In such an environment it’s no wonder that micro-celebrities are born because ultimately the only industry that rewards narcissism is the entertainment industry.

Where’s the Value?

It’s well known that advertising appeals to peoples’ desire to be a celebrity. When an industry develops tools for individuals to become their own celebrities, people rush in to take advantage of it. That’s exactly what social media has provided but hopefully some of these tools can turn into tools for good rather than simply tools for self promotion.

The only thing I can’t figure out about 12 seconds (and countless other “social media” start ups) is how are they any different from YouTube or most other video sites? Does 12 seconds really make much of a difference? Honestly, I think it’s relatively limiting and while I understand the 140 character limit for Twitter I have no idea where the value is for 12seconds.com.

How large can the industry get when people are only talking about themselves?

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.