As humans, we are all egotistic creatures. It's engrained within our DNA – we all want to be heard, enjoyed, appreciated, praised and respected. Sure, some show the trait more than others, but egotism drives just about every aspect of our society. It's the reason that we have whistle blowers, fame whores, rock stars, politicians and...social media!
Nowhere is egotism more on display than on the internet. Social networking, which has been around for decades, is now a household term and just about everyone reading this has some sort of presence there. Yes, it really exploded in popularity the past several years with the advent of Blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and a bevy of other networks, but this is not because of a cultural change in "over-sharing," it's because the tools that facilitate this sharing were no longer restricted to the "computer geeks." Anyone with an internet connection can share information, and nowhere is this more apparent than with the younger genration.
I think we need to stop using egotistic behavior as something we look down on and start appreciating it for all that it provides us, most notably the vast amount of information that makes up the world wide web. If it was in our nature to be private, reserved creatures, society would not be progressing forward as quickly as it does in its current form.
As far as LeBron is concerned, he's not any more egotistical than you or me, he's just an immature prima donna. :)