Are we sick of the selfie?

Just in case anyone has been living under a rock, the Oxford Dictionary defines a selfie as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.” But has the selfie backlash begun? No sooner had the term “selfie” officially been made a word, and then suddenly we were fed up of them. Are we about to witness the death of the selfie?

It’s a strange time we live in; despite the “1984” fear that Big Brother may be watching us through CCTV at all times, the vast majority of us still share intimate details of our lives via social media. Where we go for dinner, who we are with and even when we take a bath. In fact on average, most people will not go longer than 90 minutes without checking their Facebook, Twitter or email accounts. Our social media accounts have become a carefully cultivated profile of the way we want the world to see us. So is it really surprising that the selfie became so popular? Why would we rely on someone else to create the image of ourselves that we want to project to the world? It’s no secret that photos taken by ourselves generally show us at our best, and many even admit to taking selfies repeatedly until they find just the right pose or look.

However it seems that people are starting to tire of self-images clogging up their news feed. Yes we like looking at pictures of celebrities but do we really need to see pictures of our friends with the dreaded “duck face” pout? The reason behind most pictures being posted is to share a moment with someone; share a joke, share a beautiful view, share foodie photos. So what is the point of a selfie? What are we actually trying to share when we post pictures of ourselves? Psychologists tell us we are trying to promote status or provoke jealousy by showing only the best, (and in many cases) photoshopped version of ourselves but in reality aren’t we actually just looking for validation?

But does the selfie really deserve the backlash it is receiving? Psychologists tell us that the selfie is dangerous, that we are posting images of ourselves for all the wrong reasons, even going so far as to tell us we are becoming addicted to taking selfies. As addictions go, it’s hardly the worst thing we could do. Yes it is annoying when a ridiculously pretty girl posts a photo with the caption “Not feeling great today”, clearly waiting for reassurances to roll in but is that really any different to your friend turning up and declaring that she feels fat?

They are all at it

Trying to portray the best version of ourselves is not a new idea; from the wealthy commissioning portraits that carefully leave out any flaws to airbrushed wedding photos, we have all tried to convince the world to see us the way we want to be seen and social media just gives us another outlet to do this.

Backlash or not I doubt we’ve seen the last of the selfie, so let’s give the addicts a break; after all wouldn’t the world be a better place if everything came with Instagram filters?

By Samantha Vandersteen