Hyper-ego

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Hyper-ego is a typology of the individual that’s using me-media for his own sake. Either by using the information other individuals have put on the web, by expressing himself with social media on the web, or by doing both. In the hypercompetitive economy of the 21st century, the hyper-ego is the human node that triggers the speed of change in markets. Information about product experiences is immediately put on the web by hyper-ego's, creating a transparent world in which companies need to react at the speed of light. And at the same time, the hyper-ego is using the media as a broadcaster. Only showing himself in the me-media as he wants to be seen: the beste pictures, best cv and funiest videos.


1. Media and the hyper-ego

2. The Great Awakening

3. Narcissism


Media and the hyper-ego

Previously, TV was the mirror to the world, showing us how things were to be understood and what was good or bad. Nowadays, TV has evolved into a window in the world that allows us to view ordinary things and people. The latter are quite at home in front of the camera, because they are the generation that has grown up with TV and video tapes of themselves stored in the attic. We attribute increasingly more meaning to images of ourselves in the media. Since the advent of television, we are accustomed to viewing people, their behavior and the commentary on both. By watching that, we have become obsessed with ourselves, focusing real or imaginary media scrutiny both inward and on to people just like us. Big Brother is a perfect example of this self-obsession, but so are all of the weblogs as well.


The Great Awakening

Just like the printing press at the time of the Reformation, the development of personal web media occurred at a very opportune moment, this time in the context of the ‘The Third Great Awakening’ foreseen by Tom Wolfe [1] in 1976. Its rhythm is ‘Me, Me, Me,’ the words with which Wolfe ended his essay. He was looking forward over a period of ten years, a ‘me decade’ that, rather than expiring some time ago, evolved into an age of individualism of which there is no end in sight. Web media are directly able to serve narcissism well and encourage the further development of propaganda and advertising. Emerging at this time, web e-mancipation not only feeds this narcissism but has a strongly socializing effect as well.


Narcism

The philosopher Christopher Lasch [2] recognized that egocentrism increased after the decade of the seventies. He writes about this realization in ‘The Culture of Narcissism Revisited,’ an essay was included as a postscript to the 1991 re-printing of his book ‘The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.’

When Lasch calculated the outcome for the age of narcissism, he came to a shocking conclusion. Craftsmanship and trust in a company are being replaced by transparency, personal charm, momentum and impression management. The contemporary organizations in which we work reward narcissistic behavior. How we come across to others is monitored with some trepidation.



Id, ego and super ego [3]

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