Self-expression: What your selfie says about you
I tend to avoid any and all forms of social media by which I am obliged to expose the face of the person I appear to be. I don’t think I need to say why.
It’s no wonder that in this modern age the most valuable part of who you are is your appearance. Socialites and celebrities have reputations to uphold. Your friends and family need to know what their friends and family are up to. Your digital footprint is more you than you are at times, and that’s a scary thought. To think that so much power sits at your camera lens — that a single moment frozen in time, regardless of who you are and have been your whole life, can decide who you will be known as forever.
Granted, it’s a bit melodramatic to say that your next photo could turn your life upside-down faster than the fresh prince, and very unlikely if you’re not attempting to commit career suicide, but the fear remains regardless. Social media is the most expansive form of one’s identity: if you use it frequently, more people are bound to know who you are through a screen than in real life. It should come as no surprise then that a photo like this can lead anyone to speculate what kind of socialite I am:
Before I say any more, I should mention that I went with a 1890’s newsboy theme on the recommendation of a friend and I was very happy with how my costume came out, thank you very much. But out of context, you might be asking yourself what this picture says about me in surreptitious ways. Who’s the girl in the photo? Is that how he always likes to dress? How often does this guy party? What kind of crowd does he hang with?
And further, how does this next picture compare to the prior one? What conclusions might someone make from this selfie if they never saw the one above?
Selfies are a powerful medium for expression of the self. They can capture a brief moment of your life and have pages to say about it. They can be preplanned or spontaneous, purposeless or riddled with meaning. The photo above could frame me as a family-oriented kind of guy. The lack of filters and simplistic expression could define me as a non-frequent user of social media. The possibilities are infinite. For better and for worse.
