My Instagram Photos

17 October 2014

Selfies

I recently attended a discourse, where the speaker alluded to selfies, his distaste and his lack of knowledge about them coming across when he stated rather matter-of-factly that "selfies are nude pictures that you take of yourself and send to others, and do you know what that disgusting practice is called?" he asked the audience, "It is called sexting!"

Ok so even as much as I dislike selfies, I had to laugh, because that is very far from true. Yes, you do get selfies that are sexting selfies, and those I do not condone nor associate with! But by and large, that is not the normal person's definition of a selfie, and that is not what the majority of selifes are.



However what is the definition of a "Selfie"? Why do so many people dislike them? And why do so many people take them?

Definition
As borrowed from wikipedia: "A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook,Google+InstagramSnapchatTumblr and Twitter. They are usually flattering and made to appear casual. Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm's length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer." So pretty much all those photos of girls in bathrooms with an open toilet behind them, but makeup, a duck face and fancy clothes, those are selfies. Selfies can be ok also, many people as a family will huddle close together and take a selfie. And although these have not really been defined as selfies in times past, we could say that even Van Gough took selfies.



Why Popular?
The Caught in the Act Selfie:Well, people nowadays do not have much time physically spent with others. Socializing is nowadays done almost exclusively over the internet. Often people associate and socialize with others that they have never met, or with family and friends in distant lands that they have not seen for months or even years. In order to become more real, and to show any looks that have changed, many people resort to taking a selfie. Others do it out of pure vanity - refer Duck faced Selfies in the Bathroom, also annoying "peace sign".....


Why disliked by so many?
Even I take a selfie once in a while
Well, refer to the "Duck faced bathroom selfie". Yup, there becomes a time when we've all had about enough of selfies. Especially when we are on social networks (facebook, instagram, twitter, etc) and get a timeline full of selfies spamming our screen.  The truth is that most of us are guilty of the occasional selfie. But selfies are synonyms of teenage girls doing wierd poses in bathrooms. These can be pretty annoying.

All said and done, the truth is that there really is nothing wrong with the standard selfie. Just dont overuse it, be creative, and you are good to go.


 These are all just suggestions — but don't be afraid to let your selfie ideas go sky high!