A selfie is defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.” In this society, selfies are a form of communication and a way to express yourself to others. Selfies are a current trend that have surfaced rather recently. You can send selfies through applications like Snapchat, Instagram, and many more platforms. There are many types of selfies including the basic duck face, straight face, smile, and there are many other poses. Depending the mood, you are in while taking the selfie will determine the vibe the selfie gives off. Selfies not only show the person or people in them but their location and what exactly they are doing in the moment of taking the selfie. A selfie can be deceiving in our society because they have filters available used to edit the photo which alters the way we look and, in a way, can mask our own identity. When taking a selfie specifically on Snapchat and Instagram there are filters directly on the application which allows you to put the filter on right after you take the picture. I believe this is very tempting that even I use the filters because why would I not want to look the best I can for all my followers? Selfies are not for yourself; it is for others to react to the photo and show interest in your life which is the core reason why people post photos.
Selfies are so popular that not only the average teenage girls are doing it, but fashion icons, adults, and even grandparents are learning how to take a selfie now. Some positive factors of taking a selfie are that people feel confident enough to post them and put themselves out there although they may not be “perfect.” As I stated earlier one posts a selfie to receive positive feedback and when one posts a selfie it is inevitable that one of their followers will reply with a positive comment. In this case it boosts your self confidence and self-esteem. Although there are pros to selfies there is also cons. Selfies can affect your well-being, mentally and emotional. From the readings it is shown that people who post selfies more than others are more likely to be unhappy or insecure with their life. Constantly posting selfies is reassuring oneself that they have a “picture perfect” life, yet anxiety and depression can occur to those who are so absorbed is a false reality.
According to Saltz, he believes, “Selfies have changed aspects of social interaction, body language, self-awareness, privacy, and humor, altering temporality, irony, and public behavior.” Saltz (2014) I agree with this statement because not only have selfies altered social interaction but the increase of social media use in general has tremendously changed our society. People are never living in the moment and enjoying the people there with or place they are because the perfect photo is more important. Relationships are not as valued due to people not as emotionally involved as they once were because of all the social media platform. I believe it is important not to lose yourself as a person when being so involved in social media. From another article they said, “The key to ‘making it’ is just living your life rather than being overly concerned with your pictures.” Lee (2018) Living in 2020 it is inevitable that selfies will be a current thing and become increasingly popular. For my personal self I try to live in the moment as much as possible and not get caught up in social media, yet, I won’t lie, I do love taking selfies with my friends, families, etc. I do believe selfies are a great way to capture what you are doing and where you are as well as create memories, but it is all about balance.
Along with selfies, the influencer industry is taking over. An influencer is someone who tries to persuade people to buy what they like and what they promote. The rise of influencers on Instagram has affected society in both negative and positive ways. It has made people have low self-esteems because people constantly compare themselves to these famous influencers who seem to have the perfect life. This has not only affected people’s self-esteem’s but it also affects people’s authenticity in what they decide to post. People feel the need to present their best self on their feeds because of the domino effect. Once these influencers post amazing photos of them with celebrities, or on crazy sponsored vacations, everyone feels the need to step up their Instagram posts.
To conclude, in this day in age selfies are what reveal our identity via the online world. Yet it makes a compelling argument because individuals are competing with one another because of the need to show the world your best self and not realizing that you don’t need to show everyone that part of you to be “accepted.”
Rebecca Fiske 