Before the last decade, having a photo taken had different meanings. Photo models were photographed professionally in a studio or outdoors. Tourists who would travel to different places would normally ask their fellow mates or a stranger walking by to take a photo of them. Generally, having a photo taken required the cooperation of another person, who would have to stick there to take another photo (or even more!) whether the objective was not satisfied with the result. Well, if you want something done well, do it yourself! Pop culture has it that in 2006 it was Paris Hilton who popularized the selfie - a self-portrait photo achieved by flipping the mobile phone or the camera on the other side. Whether it was Hilton the first one that brought this new sensation or not, it does not matter. The selfie came with the purpose of staying… and so far it has been playing its cards well! Lexically speaking, the word selfie has some phonetic similarity to the word selfish. One can wonder whether there is a complete similarity to both words. The social media news feeds today are oversaturated with selfies of boys and girls sharing their faces, sometimes with quotes attached to it. Once, a friend of mine had posted a duck-face selfie wearing heavy make-up… quoting Nietzsche. Immediately, I asked myself: What is the connection between a prominent scholar and a random photo of a girl acting like she is posing for a botox commercial? Next, there was another girl who had posted a selfie of the same content and simply greeting her friends. Eureka! These two examples gave me a crystal clear idea of what is going on with the selfies today. The first girl quoted Nietzsche because she knows that all this obsession with the self and showing her face to the world is based on her unrealistic expectations. She is fully aware that a Nietzsche quote will give more potential to a simple selfie that is seen every day in our news feed. The other girl, however, snaps a selfie simply because everybody else is doing it. She does not want to be a black sheep. Either way, both of them are adjusting to the cultural homogeneity of the virtual world. Personally, I dislike selfies. Yet, I take and share one once in a while. My excuse is that it is more practical and you can easily achieve the desired result. However, it is not that I am employing any kind of individuality. I am becoming a part of the crowd. We all are, unconsciously. As I mentioned previously, the selfie is here to stay. Everybody likes practicality, and selfies are much more comfortable than having to pose in front of a camera. Funny thing is that a friend of mine quotes on his Instagram bio: “No selfies allowed!” - he keeps it old school. Overall, you cannot blame the selfie! It is easy to take, very practical, and both male and female gender have welcomed it with arms wide open. In the beginning, people would stare at you strangely for taking numerous selfies in the street or in a public space. Now, the classic hand raise with a phone is familiar to everybody and is not flashy anymore. Let me know when you finish reading this, so we can take a selfie! I’m enclosing mine, anyway.
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