Are sociopaths more likely to eschew Facebook?

by Miranda Nelson on Aug 9, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Facebook: the unofficial marker of mental health.
Photo from Shutterstock

A study released this week says that you're more likely to be a sociopath if you're not on Facebook.

According to German newsmagazine Der Tagesspiegel:

"Wake up young people who do not have a Facebook account, mistrust, then? Determined in some human resources departments in the U.S., there were at last aware of cases where heads of their applicants requested the access to their profile. Who does not have a profile, for which there is no job offer, because he has something to hide."

Which, we think means, if you don't have a Facebook profile, you are some sort of suspicious, antisocial predator who won't be able to get a job.

(No wait, scratch that. Even Predator is on Facebook.)

But, it does make a modicum of sense. How much of a social pariah do you have to be to not have a network of friends, family members, acquaintances, and/or fans? Who doesn't want to proudly announce to the world that they are "in a relationship" (and then frantically hope that no one noticed when they got e-dumped?). And who among us these days doesn't take embarrassing photos, intending them to be uploaded and shared with the world?

Basically, who doesn't have friends? And who doesn't want to publicize this fact to the world?

Who does Der Tagesspiegel point to as evidence of this "theory"? Alleged Aurora theatre gunman James Holmes, who not only didn't have a Facebook profile but also did not have a presence on YouTube, and Norway's Anders Breivik, the anti-Facebook profiler who is accused of murdering 69 people in a mass shooting.

However, as someone who gave up her Facebook profile over six months ago, I must tell you that part of the reason I did so is because I felt Facebook was actually turning me into a sociopath. I'd spend hours mindlessly clicking through photos of ex-boyfriends and old friends with new families, thinking, "Yeah, glad I avoided that". I've literally lost hours of my life looking up former classmates and acquaintances, wondering about the appropriateness of renewing contact—and then fiendishly cackling when my life seemed have turned out way better than their lives did.

In short, I was (and arguably still am) a horrible person.

Facebook made me evil, not the other way around. But I swear, I'm much better now.


Follow recovering sociopath Miranda Nelson on Twitter.

Comments (13) Add New Comment
You
Aug 9, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Should read: "Mass murderers decide not to let Facebook and Google tap their privacy and internet history, thus achieving their goals." In contrast to certain individuals, perhaps in North Vancouver, that thwart their own plans by publicly bragging online.

How long before we all have to sign up for services like this because it "helps us socially"?
4
2
Rating: +2
Miranda Nelson
Aug 9, 2012 at 4:34 pm
I've often wondered about that dichotomy. Is Facebook a public good, helping to keep the world safe? For every violent incident it stops, how many does Facebook (and other social-media sites) inadvertently facilitate? How many anti-whoever people are brought together by this pervasive technology?
4
1
Rating: +3
Abe Stinkin
Aug 9, 2012 at 7:28 pm
My favorite description of Facebook: A voluntary future self-incriminating database.
5
4
Rating: +1
Bernadine Fox
Aug 9, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Clearly you dont really understand what it means to be or know a sociopath, especially if you think behaving like every other red blooded human being and checking up on your ex's and old friends and then having real feelings about it makes you one.
3
2
Rating: +1
greggron
Aug 10, 2012 at 9:34 am
Two words - Luka Magnotta.
8
1
Rating: +7
DavidH
Aug 10, 2012 at 11:11 am
Not only do I NOT have friends, I don't WANT friends.

If I DID want friends, I'd do what everybody else does - hang out with the least offensive people I can find, and then fake sincerity until they were sucked into the "Friend Vortex".

Friends are for people who don't have dogs (or cats).
6
1
Rating: +5
miguel
Aug 10, 2012 at 12:43 pm
There are friends, and then there is Facebook.
Miguel
3
2
Rating: +1
Feng Huang
Aug 10, 2012 at 1:38 pm
A Phyrric victory usually results in a sum total of nothing.

Dragging absolute strangers into personal vendettas is extremely imprudent.

And gutless.
3
7
Rating: -4
Johnny Cotton
Aug 10, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Facebook sucks ass
2
6
Rating: -4
Argulion
Aug 10, 2012 at 8:04 pm
I'd have to say that the advent of online social networks has made me a sociopath. I do not consider being in the same room while in different houses to be socializing.
I have no desire to be the operator of my computer's social life. I am proud to be facecrack free.
3
0
Rating: +3
Knight
Aug 11, 2012 at 6:59 pm
A true sociopath would immediately see Facebook's potential as a tool to manipulate people for personal gain. What better place to be a shallow, glib, fake, self-serving, scheming asshole? Sure, some total psychos like these mass killers will avoid Facebook out of crazed paranoia, but those types have delusions that go beyond run-of-the-mill sociopathy.
4
2
Rating: +2
OnlySmartGuy
Dec 7, 2012 at 9:23 am
Idiots, a Sociopath is someone who defines themselves by society's standards and will do anything to progress in it. Like updating relationship status for others to see, trying to make people jealous by posting pics and updates, collecting friends like a hollow commodity. So, people with Facebook are MORE sociopathic than ones without it. Stop living in Opposite World and maybe our real one would stop sucking so badly!
2
2
Rating: 0
Anit Nguyen
Dec 28, 2012 at 6:41 am
ACTUALLY, Sociopaths often use social networking sites as a means to hunt for sources of narcissistic supply (ie, to gain superficial popularity based only on posting, to have access to large numbers of casual sexual/romantic partners, to build new social circles when they've polluted previous ones, etc). Its not unusual for sociopaths to have multiple accounts on multiple social networks, facebook being primary in their arsenal of tools.

The isolated antisocial people who end up serial killers, school shooters etc are hardly sociopaths, thats a totally different and highly contrasting mental state, as sociopaths (whom are also narcissists) depend on sources of superficial social interaction to feed their need to "win" and harvest narcissistic supply. Having superficial charm, makes social networks irresistible to actual sociopaths because it doesn't take much to construct an attractive, compelling mask in a fantasy world like facebook.

Clearly these articles are full of mis-information bent and screwed in order to scare "normal" people into using the social networks for fear of being falsely labeled.
4
3
Rating: +1
Add new comment
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.