Data released Thursday from Bank of America found that 9 percent of millennials and 11 percent of Gen Z say they Google themselves every day, versus 6 percent for the population overall.
I Google myself every day
Gen Z: 11 percent
Millennials: 9 percent
Gen X: 5 percent
Baby boomers: 5 percent
Seniors: 2 percent
What’s more, millennials top the list of those who say they Google themselves “frequently” with 57 percent admitting to this.
I frequently Google myself
Gen Z: 48 percent
Millennials: 57 percent
Gen Xers: 45 percent
Baby boomers: 37 percent
Seniors: 22 percent
Why are the younger generations more likely to look themselves up online frequently? One reason may be ego. “Googling yourself has become a new form of narcissism in our society,” says psychologist Christina Barber-Addis. Indeed, research published in 2008 by Swiss and Australian scientists found that our obsession with self-Googling is, in part, due to a rise in narcissism — and millennials have higher levels of narcissism that older generations, research from psychologist Jean Twenge, author of “The Narcissism Epidemic,” found. The 2008 study also found that self-Googling was a way for people to find out about and alter their online “brand” — something millennials are more apt to care about cultivating.
Still, experts say you should limit how often you Google yourself — Barber-Addis recommends no more than every few months or if there is a big event like a job interview coming up — as it can have harmful psychological consequences. “As people post more and more on social media, they seem to be Googling themselves often to see how they are being seen by others,” says Barber-Addis. “The response to this likely swings from deep satisfaction if there is a positive reflection seen, to despair if it appears that they are not being seen, or if there is a negative reflection.”
Source: New York Post