I ALWAYS thought that the slogan from the hair products’ company “Because you’re worth it” was quite life-affirming for women.

But now that it’s been adopted as a life-mantra to justify every narcissistic move we make, I’m not so sure.

The latest, almost unbelievable move in this direction comes from totally over-hyped Kim Kardashian West (even her name makes me go “Grrrrr!”). The American celebrity – mostly famous for being famous – is releasing a 352-page book aptly called “Selfish”, all about taking good selfies.

Selfies, as most people know, are the photos you take of yourself on your mobile phone that you put on Facebook and other social media.

Now I’m as keen on Facebook as the next middle-aged person wanting to know what’s what with friends and family but Mrs West’s vacuous plan strikes me as just another step towards the whole ethos of Self  - First, Last and Always.

Today, we seem to believe that we are so important as individuals that there are thousands out there just waiting to know what we do next, however trivial.

Now you’ll have to forgive the cynicism here because, in many ways, I’m just as hooked on other people’s lives as everyone else. But, just occasionally, the sheer stupidity of what we’re doing comes to me in a blinding flash and I realise that recording every minor incident of our lives in this public way is ridiculous.

Before social media, people kept diaries. These were private journals in which you recorded your thoughts, feelings and minor events of the day. You tended not to share these, unless you were a politician with a book commission, and you saved them to look back on years later with the benefit of hindsight.

Now, these daily ramblings are recorded on Facebook and other social media for the world to enjoy. And, amazingly, we do seem to find them interesting. Mrs W, for example, has 23 million followers on Twitter and 17 million on Instagram and there is no doubt her daft book will net her a small fortune.

Whether all this is healthy for us, however, is another matter. I await the time when we return to having lives that are actually private, and when information made public is limited to genuinely important revelations. I suspect it will be a long wait.