The selfie revolution in the digital age
“social media is to narcissists what crack is to crack addicts: the more narcissistic you are, the heavier your social media use is”
Millennials are facing an epidemic of self-obsession and narcissism. But to what extent can this be attributed to the new media age? Are selfies driving this curse, or are they simply a digital expression of an already existing disease?
Research by psychologists Twenge, Freeman and Campbell (2012) found a steep decline in altruism and empathy rates since the popularisation of Facebook and Twitter, whilst the Guardian reported a rise in narcissism cases within the last 10 years, highly correlated with the explosion of social media sites.
How can the trivial act of taking a selfie impact so heavily on our underlying personality? Despite the brief trend of #nomakeupselfie campaigns, there is a deep grounded norm of presenting the most positive and ‘beautiful’ side to ourselves online. Representing the complexity of self in one image which can stay online forever, creates huge pressure to get it right. Danny Bowman, aged 15, felt pressure so extreme that he dropped out of school, became depressed and attempted to end his own life due to failure to capture a perfect selfie. The rise in the selfie is causing the reduction of the self. In the digital age, perception is becoming increasingly image-based, and meanwhile we are loosing what it means to be human, to be imperfect.
The selfie culture can also be said to encourage a heavily objectified and voyeuristic society, with McNair (2002) stating “sexualised looking are permitted, indeed encouraged”. Millennials presenting themselves online are craving validation, and to gain this they must grab attention. To receive attention people are exposing more of themselves, increasing the sexualisation of self. This can be damaging as Gill (2008) highlights how women are “unable to live up to increasingly narrow standards of female beauty and sex appeal”. Consequently, selfie culture is expected to lead to an increase in depression and eating disorders, as explored by Grabmeier (2015).
However, it can be argued that millennials are no more narcissistic than those before them. It may be that the selfie is simply an expression of natural narcissistic tendencies. For the selfie to rise in popularity, it relies on a narcissistic trait in humans in order to gain enjoyment from the concept. Researchers at Western Illinois University found people who score highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire had more friends on Facebook, tagged themselves more often and updated their news feeds more regularly.This suggests, social media and the selfie do not create the narcissistic society, the narcissistic society are drawn to selfie.
Twenge stated “There’s a natural human tendency to think that things are getting worse”. It is easy to brand millennials as self-obsessed narcissists, and fail to acknowledge the benefits of selfie culture. Posting an image online, opens the person up to feedback, and this takes nerve. The selfie would not have gained such popularity if it only led to criticism. Instead, it offers the everyday person a platform for identity creation, exploration and esteem boosting. Capturing the self in an image, allows control of presentation that the offline world cannot. The Guardian highlight the careful attention to what others think of us resulting from selfie culture, supports a healthy identity and is a cornerstone to psychological well-being.
Whilst I disagree with the Guardian’s argument that millennials are attempting to sanitise human’s imperfections through the selfie, I do recognise that there is an internal need for external validation and acceptance from others. Whilst I believe this has always existed, the digital age is exposing the underlying self-esteem of society, and offers a new medium of addressing its needs. However, as Alonso argues, boosting self-esteem through selfie validation, neglects long-term treatment of negative self-image, such as self-acceptance and respect.The consequences of the rise of the selfie, like most things, depends on use. We have the medium for reinventing the self, gaining appreciation, and boosting our self-concept. However, like all of life’s pleasures, when taken to extreme it can drive us into self-obsession and narcissistic tendencies.
