There is a website called LiveScience.com which tracks all sorts of cutting edge scientific breakthroughs in research and otherwise. (See recent story Bees Can Count–who knew?). The best part about the site:   It’s not all about it.

Yesterday LiveScience published a story based on a study conducted at the University of Georgia which suggests people’s Facebook profiles can be used to diagnose narcissism, even by untrained observers.

But, what exactly is “narcissism” and what does a narcissists’ Facebook profile look like?

“Simply put, narcissists are people who think they’re pretty great. … They think they’re more attractive, more intelligent, more unique and entitled to special treatment,” said Lauren Buffardi, a University of Georgia graduate student and lead author of a study that will be published in the Journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin next month.

“Narcissists might initially be seen as charming, but they end up using people for their own advantage,” study co-author W. Keith Campbell said to Live Science. “They hurt the people around them and they hurt themselves in the long run.”

The University study found a correlation between “excessively egotistical people”, number of Facebook profile comments (especially self-authored, or promoting) and number of friends.   Often the profile photo is glamorous or exotic, and a quick browse down the text (of user comments and photo descriptions) carries brief or no mention of others (involved), except in context of self-promotion or benefit.

Basically what it boils down to is this: narcissists use Facebook the same way they use their other relationships for self-promotion with an emphasis on quantity over quality.

You can takepart by visiting Mayo Clinic’s website to learn about treatment options for Narcissistic personality disorder.