Picture this: it’s the year 2006, nothing screams stylish! more than a fuchsia Juicy sweat-suit and the peace sign that has some how gravitated to the side, confusing members of the Woodstock generation everywhere. For me such aspects mark my time as a middle schooler.
Beyond my ability—much more of an attempt—to coordinate my velour outfits with the colors of the rainbow, switching it up once or twice with the So-Lows look, I found myself wrapped up in a plethora of other fads. The first was AOL Instant Messenger, colloquially known as AIM. Who did not love the ability to talk to anyone in a matter of seconds with the protective shield of distance? The flip phone was a fabulous form of technology at this point in my life as well and it only got better with the addition of the camera. With this combination, I began to take picture upon picture of myself: in bathroom with the mirror, on the bus to school, doing my homework—you name it, I took it. I like to mark this as my first introduction to the “selfie” and I have yet to stop my practices. I soon discovered a far more enticing way to communicate online and share my prize-winning portraits: the one and only MySpace.
Part One in my three-part exhibit of the evolution of the selfie is MySpace: a wondrous, yet utterly frightening, step in social media – it combined what every self-concentrated, fad-fascinated seventh grader could ever ask for. After deep deliberation and utmost dedication, one created a page: featuring a top 100 song, a themed background, some basic information and a photo. The most important part of the whole profile was this said photo. Clearly taken by oneself, a portion of the arm showed only leading to reveal a duck-like kissy face coupled by the free hand flipped side ways giving a peace sign. And this, my friends, is the MySpace selfie: the first real jump in self-picture taking, an art that is only mastered by some.
As MySpace faded out, Facebook came into play. Giving off a more professional feeling due to the collegiate origin (cue Jessie Eisenberg in The Social Network), Facebook forced MySpace selfie takers to calm their antics. Thus, the selfie gravitated from a ridiculous attempt at seductive pouting and peace spreading to a well proportioned, cropped photo. No longer did one take a picture themselves, holding their arm up deliberately enough to create a terribly awkward angle. The technique now, due in part to another technological revelation, was to set the camera timer. Placing the camera on the proper elevation
matched the difficulty of actually getting oneself in the frame of a MySpace selfie. The timer would beep obnoxiously, alerting the subjects—who have been clearly waiting patiently, manipulating their pose—the photo is about to be taken. Flash! And you have yourself a Facebook-worthy photo. However, considering the seriousness (comparatively) of Facebook, one now had to crop herself out of the timed photo, to properly display herself on her own profile.
The evolution of the iPhone deserves its own article (possibly a novel), so I’ll just cutto the chase. The day Steve Jobs added the front camera to his
already magical device was a holiday for selfie lovers like myself. It began with just the touch of a screen, flipping the camera around to look at you without even straining your arm or putting the camera on timer. This opened a whole new world: one could now take pictures of themselves from hiding under the desk in class or blatantly out and about. This sense of selfie ability enticed takers and welcomed a new fad: the ugly selfie. Encouraged by novel applications such as Snapchat, selfie takers attempt to look their ugliest—scrunching their faces, adding as many chins as possible, whatever it takes to look mildly deformed—and send it off to their friends. Sending such a selfie in a regular text message runs the risk of a spiteful friend saving it. Snapchat, however, enables users to send their Ansel Adams-like photography to friends, only allowing receivers a couple of seconds to view and the making it impossible to save. To me, this application is far more than magical; it is the Narnia of selfie taking.
Technology and social media are forever evolving, enabling the selfie to transform as well. Who knows what picture taking breakthrough lurks around the corner?