What Do Selfies Really Say About You?

[10cvictoria]

www.cnn.com/2015/01/08/living/selfies-study-men-narcissism-feat/index.html

There have been countless times when my dad has said, "Are you really taking a picture of yourself again?" and I will respond exasperated, "Dad I'm just taking a selfie on Snapchat." I never understood his disbelief with the concept until I read this article. This article claims there is a correlation between narcissism and selfies. 

Now I understand everyone (including yours truly) loves snapping that occasional selfie, and that does not mean we are self obsessed. However, people who take, edit and post selfies more than occasionally are more prone to self-objectification. This is when an individual cannot see themselves as an individual, but rather an object. Self-objectification and self absorption is also fueled by raging insecurity. Moreover, there are many negative outcomes like depression, eating disorders, and a lacking in the ability to mentally process information. 

Selfies are fun and playful, however have they turned down a road where they are harmful to us?

[6sjulia]

I personally believe that people are over analyzing everything around this situation. Girls my age who compare themselves to images of girls, who post pictures of themselves because they are proud of their image, because they want the proof from other individuals that they are "omg so pretty", are just weak minded. I don't know how else to say it but there is no denying it. Every girl (including me) has had a situation where they were brought down by an image of someone who socially is accepted as beautiful and gorgeous and perfect. And the key word in that is 'socially'. Girls bring themselves down over something that is viewed so differently by the 7 billion people on this Earth. You write that there are negative outcomes like depression, eating disorders and a lack in the ability to mentally process information. I understand that this is probably not meant to sound so, but it sounds like its the subject (of a pictures) fault for posting a picture and bringing other girls down. What one person, what one society, deems as beautiful and perfect can be absolutely nasty to anther human being. Girls try to change themselves to look like others, but we cannot put the blame on someone who is courageous and proud enough to put up a picture of themselves.
Same as today we have the means to share our thoughts and feelings and pictures on media, there are also so many outlets providing support for exactly those girls who are suffering from problems dealing with self-consciousness. The popular teen magazine Seventeen has an entire article every month on self love and body image love. Girls who notice that these situations make them unhappy now have the means in today's day and age to speak to someone about their concerns and issues, to gain support from others. You are never alone.
Lastly, girls are so impacted with their own images and wish they looked like someone else, but if we all looked like each other we would probably want to look different than everybody else. And if we looked like everybody else then we wouldn't be the unique and amazing human beings that we are today. There is so much negative attention going into topics like this, topics that really have no worthwhile value because in ten years we won't be remembering that girl that used to get 500 likes on every one of her Instagram photos. Sometimes its just best to look away.

[6pwallis]

I completely agree with this! Every time is go on snapchat my mom tells me I'm obsessed with myself, when really I'm just trying to send a funny picture to my friend. But I feel as thought selfies have come to a point where it can be detrimental to you're self image and how you compare yourself to the world. Selfies give people the ability to continue taking a picture until it's perfect, and then people edit them. Everyone has seen that person on Facebook who posts a bikini picture with legs the size of twigs, and that just not natural. Selfies are just a gateway to so many issues. It is so sad that people find the need to edit themselves and then share it with the world. The media plays a huge factor in this. Everyday we are exposed to so many celebrities that weigh 2 pounds and we start to believe that being that small is the norm. Something needs to change.

[3taliac]

It used to be fun to share selfies with your friend. There was noting serious about them, they were meant for a laugh or to cheer up a friend. It was another way to share your feelings without words. But that has all changed. Now selfies have become expressions of self-absorption, insecurity, and narcissism. It used to be an impromptu type of thing, but now it’s a constant race to be the more beautiful, more perfect, and more flawless human being. Celebrities like the Kardashian’s take endless amounts of selfies to post onto social media; all edited with 20 filters and retouched with all the latest applications. There is absolutely nothing natural about them.

The selfie stick is the last straw. It was a cute little gimmick when you saw it on television, but now they’re in every store. When you walk through Times Square or any other NYC tourist attraction, you see all of these tourists walking around with these long sticks. They are all so infatuated with how they look on the screen, they aren’t paying attention to why they are even here: TO SEE NEW YORK CITY. Those who take continuous selfies ruin their experience because there’s a difference between experiencing NYC and trying to SHOW everyone you experienced it.

[6vjeremy]

I've always believed that something great should be experienced in the present and enjoyed for the feelings involved in the moment. Instead, most people focus all of their energies on capturing those moments for the sole purpose of looking back on them. In the end, the moment is missed entirely and all that's left of whatever meal or sight is a tasteless, untouchable, unheard item with no actual memory of the true feelings involved. Is that picture so worth looking at twenty years from now that you don't actually remember what it was like to see the sight itself, only the picture?

This has become increasingly more troubling in recent years with the extreme obsession on selfies. Pictures can be great tools for nostalgia and a nice way to hold on to certain situations that may never be experienced again. However, when the subject of an amazing view of the grand canyon is your face and not the rocks themselves, what was the point? Occasionally they are funny, but in many situations it is a self absorbed tendency that mars real beauty.

[6WElahe]

Selfies have become a big part of today's society. Whether taken often or once in a while, many people do take selfies. I have been accused, by multiple family members, of taking selfies very often. Now, in some cases, this can be related directly back to narcissism. However, this is not usually the case. To me, selfies represent being able to be comfortable in one’s own skin. The fact that a person can take such a close picture of themself without always being afraid to share it is a good thing for some people. Self-confidence does not come easy for some people, but for those who do have it, it is often related back cockiness or narcissism. This just goes to show that no matter what you do, something will always be wrong with you in someone’s eyes.

When it comes to the idea of self-objectification, sadly enough this idea is somewhat true, just a bit exaggerated. Many people feel pressured to look as best as they can when sharing their photographs on social media or anywhere else. Celebrities and other public figures have set the standards of beauty quite high for the rest of us looking on. Many people do edit their pictures and add filters in order to “enhance” their looks. However, this does not mean that a person views themself as an object and does not value themself as a person. For most people, edits are used in order to impress viewers and to make sure that they are comfortable with what they are posting. If adding a filter makes a person feel less self-conscious about a picture or a selfie that they have taken, then why not add it? Yes, depression, eating disorders, and diminished cognitive performance do occur in people, but not always due to the actual act of taking selfies. These disorders result from the comparison of oneself to another person and a low self-esteem. However, if someone is comfortable with the way that they look, with or without filters, they should be able to express their right to take a selfie and share it with others without being accused of being a narcissist.

[10agreco]

In todays society, selfies are a way for most people to put the best image of themselves out there. While I dont believe there is anything wrong with posting the occasional selfie,I do believe that posting to many slefies has a negative effect on many people's self esteem. For example,i have many friends who feel the need to constantly post pictures of themselves. Whenever there picture does not get at least 200 likes, they delete it. They also delete the picture if their best friends do not write enough comments saying "fuego" or "OMG can i be you" or " MY BEST FRIEND IS SO GORG". There is nothing wrong with commenting nice things on photos, but these comments have become a competition, and a way of determining self worth. I asked my friends why they comment on every single selfie they see, even if they dont like the picture or the person. Their responses were that if they comment on a picture, the other person comments back, and then they have a bunch of comments which make them look desirable to guys. I highly doubt that any guy really reads these comments, or form oppinons based on the comments, but nonetheless, this logic appeals to many tennage girls. The selfie has become a way for girls to compete with each other. I have friends who wont post a selfie unless its absolutley perfect. This includes multiple filters, and the use of photoshop to delete "fat" or make their "nose look smaller". When you really think about this logic it is truly ridiculous. Why cant girls be truly happy with themselves? Why do so many girls feel the need to prove they are more beautiful than someone else? Why do so many people place value on themselves by the number of comments or likes they get?

[6mmichael]

i think selfies are 100% narcissistic, you like the way you look so you want everyone to see. Society forces us to be. Today people are so obsessed with image and how they look, me especially. We have to show our better self on social media when posting a selfie, and may spend minutes trying to capture it. This also ties in with the whole photoshop scandal. We become obsessed with making sure not a single flaw is shown in this selfie. People hate other people all the time for the way they look. Meanwhile we are all human and have our flaws and understand we do not look amazing all the time. When a person starts only posting selfies you can tell their confidence level has gone down. They need to post it to hear how great they look. There is also the "i wanted to post a pic" selfie, and thats perfectly okay. All I'm saying is we can not be so obsessed with how we look all the time.

[3mmaria]

The motives behind posting a "selfie" can be viewed in many different ways. While some may post them because they are self-absorbed, others may post them because they are insecure and they feel as if they need reassurance from their peers. Regardless of one's motive when posting a "selfie", I do believe that the vast majority of "selfies" are posted because it's become a huge part of today's society within social media.

[3cgenesis]

Selfies have become so prevalent to the point where you see people stop in the middle of the street and take one. While they can be a good form of self-expression or showing self-confidence, they can also lower your self-esteem. Teens constantly compare themselves to the quality of another person's selfie, and many times it even becomes a form of competition. I also believe that taking too many selfies can be a sign of insecurity versus narcissism. Sometimes people just need a good picture of themselves to feel physically attractive and confident. Sharing it on social media also indicates an attempt to feel accepted and admired in some way, shape or form... even if it is based on how "on fleek" your eye-brows are. 

[3rpamela]

To be honest I feel that selfies are good to some extent. It depends on "why your taking the selfie?", and "is it for you or for the world to see?" The thing with society is that most of us are prone to do what others do. Therefore, many people only take selfies because he or she has taken selfies, so why not try it too? Then it comes to how many times you take a selfie each day? Many people obsess with the idea of a selfie. They take selfies with their cat, a random person, behind a pole, outside, inside,etc. So this leads to some kind of mental disorder of wanting to take a selfie everywhere. However, people stopped thinking about the idea of a picture taken by my friend of me or someone taking a picture of me. Now we see lots of faces, but less environment and bodies. Adding on, I do agree with what others were saying about confidence, but then again I do not think that "likes" on a picture determine how pretty or accepted you are. At the end of the day they can still like your picture to make you think that you are beautiful, but then they go off talking about how ugly you are with their friends...

[10tanyas]

Reading this article i couldn't help but roll my eyes. Firstly, selfies are more commonly taken be teenagers and the occasional twenty year old, but rarely do we see a high number of "selfies" taken and posted all over the internet by a working, family-orientated, and settled, adult man or woman. Firstly, why must we discourage people and put them down for having a self-confidence? Its about time we allowed people to do what makes them happy without criticizing them. A lot of teenagers post photos of themselves on the internet to receive compliments and praise. For most young people this is an awkward stage in their life and often their self-worth is defined by what others think of them. Of course, I don't agree that what others think should define you, but being realistic, no matter what your age, we all want to hear compliments from certain people- whether it be a friend or lover-. Also, while most selfies tend to focus on one's most defining and "pleasurable" features, some photos are far from flattering and are shared with the internet in an ironic, joking, kind of way. There is, of course, a point where some take it too far and the act of taking selfies becomes obsessive in some, but I am yet to meet a person such as this.

Personally, if you love taking photos of yourself and you wish to share it with the world, go ahead, you're not harming anyone. Just don't shove your photos in my face and we will be more than ok. I promise.

[6rkate]

In my opinion, selfies should be something that people post because they feel beautiful. However, it has gotten worse over the years, and I recently found myself in a situation where my sister asks me whether or not this selfie will get her more likes on social media. Selfies should not be taken because “people will like me better”, that is very shallow of a person. Scrolling down my instagram feed, I see dozens of selfies where women are either wearing too much makeup or wearing half their clothes and there are over 1,000 editing apps to “retouch your face with” or add as many fliters on your face as possible. This goes to show that our society is so focused on what a person looks like on the outside, if you are portrayed as beautiful on social media then they have more friends and likes. Selfies are meant to show who you are as a person, if you are a genuinely optimistic person most of your selfies should be of yourself smiling or having fun. However, young teenagers portray themselves as a different person on social media. I sometimes find myself meeting a person who looks and act totally different on instagram. This is where society crosses the line with selfies, we spend less and less family time because we are so focused on how we look, that social interaction is rarely seen today. The best way to fix this ongoing behavior is to take time to shut off your phone, no matter how hard it may be for us, and enjoy and be in the moment.

[10zqueena]

i had just finished reading an news article about a guy who was taking a selfie next to his girlfriend and was not paying attention to the train next to him and ended up getting hit by the train and eventually dying. Personally i think that taking selfies once in a while is fine but once it becomes an obsession there is a problem at hand. snapchat is just a fun way to communicate with your friends through social media. However if it does come in the way of doing work and you having to constantly check the story board or checking to see if your friend sent a chat i think then taking selfies can become harmful. In the long run it depends on the person themselves and how they control when they do post selfies . But people have to remember that the main thing is to send a selfie for fun not for the approval of others and always pay attention to the things around you when you do because you can get seriously hurt if you don't. elitedaily.com/news/world/guy-hit-by-amtrak-train-taking-selfie/945342/

[10vwoods]

Although I understand that some people view taking selfies as narcissistic, I don't think that there is anything wrong with it. It's a pretty much surefire way of taking a good photo of yourself, and I think that everyone likes knowing that they have the ability to look nice. People get ridiculed for it, but I view it as a way to make oneself more confident in their looks. Being a teenager is definitely the stage in which people have the least self esteem, so any opportunity to raise it for one's own benefit should be taken advantage of. If that means taking 1000 pictures of oneself, I say that they should by all means.
I also understand that there is a line to be drawn when it comes to the importance that selfies have on one's self esteem. Once people start worrying about which ones they should post on to social media for the most "likes", this becomes a problem. A person shouldn't have to get the validation of others in order to feel good about him or herself. All that really ends up mattering is how the person feels, regardless of what other people think.