There used to be a time when taking selfies was an abominable act. Back when MySpace was the social media of choice, it seemed like tweens and teens everywhere were coming into their own via the classic kissy face. I used to harshly judge anyone who would stand in front of her mirror and snap a pic, or worse, hang the camera from over her head with the arm sneaking into the frame. Flash forward seven or so years and it appears that I am a hypocrite.
I am now completely guilty of the newly revived selfie craze that has emerged in the past couple of years. I think this new trend in selfies manifested as girls started making fun of others who would take selfies in earnest. It basically became acceptable to take selfies as long as you were making an ugly face, or there was some sort of indication that you weren’t actually being serious- duh, that would be embarrassing and weird! Yet somewhere along the line, these “joke” selfies have advanced to a whole subcategory of selfies of their own. I genuinely believe that selfie addiction is real. Taking selfies with a stranger you meet out on a Friday night, taking selfies in a cubicle alone in the library, taking so many selfies with my roommate in a row that it could make a flipbook- this is my life.
I have more selfies than I know what to do with, really. For every selfie that makes it up on Facebook, I guarantee you there are ten plus selfies that didn’t make the cut. In addition to the selfies infiltrating Facebook and Twitter, the selfie culture currently faces the surging popularity of iPhone apps like SnapChat. SnapChat was essentially created for you to take your ugliest selfies yet, only for them to disappear into the abyss forever after 3 seconds. I now find myself preferring to communicate via SnapChat than text. Why ask a friend to go to dinner over text when I can ask her with the ugliest face I didn’t even know I could make?
The selfie culture really isn’t all that different from the constant Twitter ranting, Facebook status updating, and Instagramming that has come to define our generation today. Clearly, we think we’re hilarious, and everyone should know it. Every time I take a selfie, I feel a small pang of embarrassment/hatred toward myself, but then I get over it. Steve Jobs, may his soul rest in peace, simply has made it too easy for me to take pictures of myself. To not take advantage of the blessing that is the frontal camera on the iPhone, thus allowing friends to coordinate matching selfie faces (revolutionary!), would be sinful.
As much as I’d like to publicly proclaim that I’m quitting selfies cold turkey right here, right now, that just would be a lie. Honestly speaking, I’m going to Europe next semester and you better believe I’m taking selfies in front of every landmark I come across and with every foreign stranger I meet. Yes, I have become the girl I hated years ago, but what can I do? This is who I am now. SnapChat me!
Photo Sources
http://johnedwinmason.typepad.com/.a/6a0112791cb10528a4017d3c4b61f0970c-400wi
http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/300-1112-snapchat-300×300.jpg