Psychologically, in his love, Narcissus longs for himself, which would not represent identification with a counterpart, but that the mirror image shows itself as the Other, and the Other is “Alter Ego”. That which is to be called identity proves to be unattainable and alien, and so fascination and aggression form the basis of the unstable relationship between Narcissus and his mirror image as the Other (object). When Narcissus says that he "wants to separate from his own body", this indicates a rivalry with himself. It is an alienation relationship, which can be described almost analogously as a metaphor for Lacan's mirror stage. What does the mirror stage and narcissism have to do with us? And especially with advertising and social media? In my opinion: a lot. The narcissistic traits of narcissism are even highly desired in advertising and are potentiated, albeit indirectly. And WE are part of it. According to the American Syzygy study, millenials (born between 1981 and 1998) are significantly more narcissistic than previous generations. And advertisers use this characteristic to their advantage to make advertising even more target-oriented. Services are summarised to flatter the target group and, above all, the ego. Especially in the era of digitalisation, narcissism is called a "collective disease". The most famous example is Instagram and the always perfectly taken photos, mostly of oneself. The moment you pick up the camera to take a selfie is the identical one when Narcissus sees his mirrored self in the water pondover and over again.
- selenasandalj