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Abstract
This paper presents a psychodynamic perspective of online social networking (SN) based on selected literature review. It views online SN as an extension of the social self that is organized predominantly in the paranoid-schizoid mode of generating experience. Its popularity is underpinned by strong intersubjective motivations and surface-derived autistic quality. The disembodied nature of online communication has a trivializing effect which falls short of genuine co-created moments and intersubjective recognition. The state of engagement in online SN is one of sustained object consciousness similar to the state of primary dissociation. Finally, excessive online SN involves a predictable pattern of anxiety and excitement that is nevertheless preferred by those who are aversive to unpleasant experiences or social interactions.