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But first let me take a selfie (revised)
Wherever you go you hear the phrase:” let’s take a selfie”. The word “selfie” became ubiquitous and was declared as the word of the year by oxford dictionary in 2013. Consequently the question that raises itself for the majority of the population is: “What is a selfie?” A selfie is the production of self-generated digital photographic portraiture by human agents and is usually shared on many social media platforms which are non-human agents and instantly becomes infrastructure of the digital super public. As one of the most controversial topics facing our society, some perceive it as an addiction leading to suicide in extreme cases, to a low self-esteem leading to some mental illnesses, to narcissism and putting too much emphasis on the physical appearance. Others defended the previous accusations by showing the lack of credibility and accuracy of some magazines publishing articles showing correlation between suicide and selfies and by showing the hypocrisy of some psychologists, proving that it actually increases self-confidence instead of lowering it and vanishing any charge of narcissism or any mental illness.
On one hand, due to some ideologies such as moral panics, which are exaggerated public concern, anxiety and fear over a perceived threat which is often triggered by alarming media which is tackling selfies in our case and the negative side of technological determinism which shows that we’re enslaved by selfies and the negative impact of social affordances which plays a role in isolating us, selfies has been accused of so many negative impacts. (Krinsky, 2013, pp. 2–14).
Selfies are first hypothesized as a leading cause for suicide or unintended death due to addiction. The first part was shown in the case of Danny Bowman who was saved by his own mother after trying to commit suicide due to his inability of getting the perfect selfie after ten hours of trying and with an average of 200 pictures per day. He is currently rehabilitating and trying to live without his i-phone (Lock, n.d., para. 9). The unintended death also known as dying while taking a selfie has given the year 2014 the proclamation of “The Year of The Selfie”, and this was due to many people who in order to take a selfie have gotten themselves in to bad situations and in some cases there was selfies where the person has some sort of weapon or involved (Daws, n.d., para. 4).
Second, selfies are one the strongest agents contributing in lowering particularly teenager’s self-esteem by not being able to get “the perfect shot” such as in Bowman’s case or by not getting the expected number of likes and comments and this might lead according to some studies to: “some serious psychological disorders to selfie-taking individuals including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (a chronic mental health condition in which the sufferer obsesses over perceived flaws with their body)”(Daws, n.d., para. 6).
Third, selfies are accused for having links to narcissism, self-objectification and more serious psychological disorders (Daws, n.d., para. 5). Meaning, that their very existence will cause a person to perceive people and make judgements over other individuals based on their physical appearance. Furthermore, selfies are accused of placing too much emphasis on physical appearance: everything is extremely physical and human norms and values are not as important anymore as someone’s physical appearance, thus increasing the probability of an individual developing narcissism.(Lock, n.d., para. 13).
On the other hand, due the positive impacts of technological determinism such as the Utopian visions which see new technologies as a natural development; a force that improves daily life and transforms society for the better and the positive impacts of the social affordances that give us the chance to acknowledge the changes in a positive way, selfies are defended and are considered harmless and at some points useful(Baym, 2010, pp. 22–45). Selfies aren’t conceptualized as acts of narcissism and vanity; they’re more than just about mainstream teenage girls making tucking their lips together in what has been commonly known as “the duck face” facing their bathroom mirror and there is no existence of a correlation between selfie production and mental illness.
Vice writer Martin Robbins argues that individual cases of selfie use and abuse are being reported by private sector doctors who make money from treating the conditions they identify (Baym & Senft, 2015, p.3). These diagnoses turned into accusation of culture at large. This was shown in Danny Bowman’s case where psychiatrist David Vale has led THE DAILY MAIL to believe that: “addiction to taking selfies is becoming so widespread it is now a recognized mental illness” (Baym & Senft, 2015, p.3). If that was true, TIMES magazine would have interviewed more psychologists instead of publishing an article which in fact is a summary based on what The Daily Mail covered and referencing the article as an authoritative source.
Selfies are always accused for lowering one’s self esteem but according to a common sense media survey only 4% among 1000 teens aging between 13 and 17 years felt worse about themselves and their appearance whereas 1 in 5 teens showed an increase in self-confidence and popularity when using social media websites and mobile applications (Nicola, n.d., para. 3). This is further concretized by Chaiyont claim: “It’s the reactions that will shape a person’s behavior. Insecure people probably are not going to take selfies and post them [but if they do and receive positive feedback] it would encourage them to do it more. I might not necessarily make them more self-confident, but it will make them less shy exhibiting themselves.” (Nicola, n.d., para. 3).
Anne Burns argues that: “the charge of narcissism functions more as accusation than diagnosis. After explaining that accusing someone of narcissism because they take or distribute selfies “reflects a poor understanding of narcissism itself”. (Baym & Senft, 2015, p.4).
In my opinion the reason behind selfies facing all the previously mentioned accusations is due to moral panics, the negative impacts of technological determinism and social affordances that is shaping the wrong image about the concept of selfies. And the worst part is that “rules of visual display apply more to some social groups than others. On balance, images of women and queers of all genders tend to be more socially policed than those of heterosexual men. Similarly, people of color find themselves under surveillance of all sorts more frequently than Whites, and young people have fewer legal claims to privacy than older people” (Baym & Senft, 2015, p.5). Taking selfies is simply a matter of capturing a certain moment that we would like to look at a few years later in order to remember and cherish said moment. Unfortunately, exaggerations, accusations and even discrimination are always present whenever there is any sort of media involvement. Here is a picture of myself and one of my best friends who I only see once every two years because he studies abroad. The selfie was taken last winter during a skiing trip in the Lebanese mountains; seeing that picture triggers positive emotions by reminiscing on a happy memory of a perfect winter day with a person I genuinely care about. And in comparison, I have included below the previously mentioned picture, some of the craziest selfies I have seen.
References:
Baym, N.K. (2010). Making Sense of New Media. Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Polity Press, London, 22–45.
Baym, N.K., & Senft, T.M. (2015). What Does the Selfie Say? Investigating a Global Phenomenon. International Journal of Communication. 9, 1588- 1606. Retrieved from ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/4067/1387
Daws, M. (n.d.). Sefies Can Harm You, According to Researchers. Leisure Lifestyle. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/313841/selfies-can- harm-you-according-researchers
Krinksy, Ch. (2013). Introduction. The Moral Panic Concept.The Ashgate Research Companion to Moral Panics, 2–14.
Lock, R. (n.d.). Why Selfies Do More Harm Than Good. Lifestyle. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/why-selfies-more-harm- than-good.html
Nicola. (n.d.). Psychological Advantages of Selfies. Retrieved from http://www.talk.edu/learn-english/college-life/social- skills/psychological-advantages-selfies/
