Scientists heap praise on themselves and their colleagues on Twitter. This narcissistic self-promotion is annoying.
A few years ago, I signed up for Twitter (now “X”). My colleagues assured me that this short message service was quite reputable, as it was primarily used by experts to inform each other about newly published scientific papers. Funny cat videos like those on Facebook were rather rare there. My colleagues were right. Despite the growing flood of TikTok videos, you can still get a lot of useful information about conferences or new publications via Twitter/X.
It is strange that almost every one of these references is accompanied by unrealistic superlatives. My “brilliant” colleague, it says, has published an “excellent” paper that – of course – “sets standards”. And the reward follows immediately. The person who is praised in this way returns the favor at the next opportunity with similarly euphoric praise of his “great” colleague’s latest work.
This trick – self-praise disguised as praise from colleagues – is not only limited to publications. After a conference, scientists not only politely thank the host via Twitter/X for the “excellently organized” event, but also shower the other participants with superlatives. “Exceptional colleagues” have delivered “top-class” contributions that have produced “new findings.”
A “selfie” with lots of grinning faces is meant to underline how much fun everyone had solving the world’s great puzzles together. Next week, when the next seminar follows with almost the same number of people, the game starts all over again. In this way, everyone involved attests to each other’s brilliance – and in this way tries to lie their way into higher scientific spheres.
Twitter-Psychology
It is understandable that some scientists are proud of their recently published book and announce this on Twitter/X. But even if the new publication is still a long way off, there are ways to let your narcissism run wild. You simply tell the Twitter/X audience that you will have finished your book “soon”. And some users respond obediently that they can hardly wait to read this – undoubtedly excellent – work.
A completely pointless dialogue, but all participants probably feel better afterwards. The virtual reader has supported the virtual author and at the same time shown himself to be an intellectual who enjoys reading. That’s Twitter psychology.
All of this would be amusing if it had no practical consequences. But a generation has now grown up in which many apparently believe that only displaying one’s own top performance will enable professional advancement. So a tweet about simply attending a conference is presented with selfies and a clever caption as if one had given the keynote speech there oneself. Blogs or Internet comments suddenly appear as “publications” on one’s CV.
The start of an internship announced on Twitter/X is enhanced by referring to oneself not simply as an “intern” but as a “strategic intern” – apparently to distinguish oneself from the nameless horde of merely “tactical” interns. And of course one is generous in distributing approving emojis for other people’s tweets – always in the hope of receiving this one-click approval for one’s own contributions as well.
It is difficult to prove whether this narcissistic self-promotion actually works. But it is certainly annoying. The young scientist, who will one day defend the achievements of the Enlightenment, starts his professional life by spreading “fake news” about himself.
Fortunately, there is a solution for those who can no longer stand this form of academic vanity: just go to Facebook and watch a few cat videos. They are simply cute.
The author worked for over 30 years in NATO’s International Staff, including in the areas of policy planning and speeches, hybrid threats, and energy and climate security.
