People behave in different and various ways. Each one has his/her own identity, values and personality. Thus, everyone has a certain way in expressing him/herself through the mirror of the society which is the media.
Assumingly, no one is unfamiliar with the recent “selfie” thingy. According to Scearce, “roughly one million selfies are taken every day.” People are taking selfies on the roof, in the bathroom, sleeping, while having dinner and even kissing a shark and in many other numerous positions that might be seen for some as obsession, but still for selfie-takers, “it’s a way of life.” It has become a controversial cultural issue linked to one’s private life.
Like any other social issue, taking selfies has “pros” and “cons”. Some people support the idea of showing “the self” and point this as a form of freedom of expressing and boosting human traits and self-confidence (Dahl, 2014), but others reject it and claim that it is a form of psychic disorder and derive a lot of bad consequences (McKay, 2014) and (Scearce, n.d.). Both points of view are circulating in social media trying to convince readers with the different perspectives about the “selfie-debate”.
Digging in the exact meaning of selfie; there is no clear explanation other than it’s a particular way that is practiced to address attention. Every human behavior has a reason, and taking selfies has reasons too! But taking selfies is a mixed behavioral-technique linked to psychology, sociology and a lot of other big deals that are a part of people’s existence.
Psychologically, Faces are powerful channels of non-verbal communication (McKay, 2014). People look at faces for the first sight because they care for faces as a major part of the body. As cited in Scearce, “in 2014 study by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs showed that Instagram photos with faces are 38 percent more likely to receive likes than photos without faces, and 32 percent more likely to get comments.” This clearly shows how much people’s interests are about visuals and especially facial features and on the same ground selfie-takers are concerned mostly to make their face look the best. Moreover, in the same psychic field, experts who support taking selfie say that it make adolescents communicate and engage in social interaction (Sifferlin, 2013). As cited in Sifferlin (2013), Letamendi claims “Psychologically speaking, there may be some benefit to participating in sharing selfies because this practice is interwoven in our social culture and is a way to interact socially with others.” On the other hand, in McKay (2014), the opposers of selfies claim that faceless communication lack social cues and hence erodes trust in confidence in other people and are shedding the light on a serious psychological issue . According to psychiatrist Dr. David Veal, “Two out of three of all the patients who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the rise of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly take selfies.” (McKay, 2014). This led Letamendi to argue that selfies is ruining people’s psychological intentions to become dangerous disorders and committing suicide for not capturing the perfect selfie is one of them.
Some agree that the phone by itself is under the negative technological determinism, since phones seduce users into addictive behavior like taking selfies on regular basis and a lot of other bad habits like sexting and copyright infringement. We are enslaving ourselves to communication devices that have turned us into self obsessed narcissists, no longer able to look beyond our own image (Selfie) Considering this as a bad side of technology in being slaves and highly dependent on it (dystopian visions). Others see the bright side of everything related to technology (utopian vision). From this point of view, selfies is consequently a production of technological developments which in turn improve human’s lives.
Most selfie-teenagers especially girls has a defending attitude toward taking selfies, saying that it improves their confidence and strengthen their personalities. In the Ideal to Real TODAY/AOL Body Image survey, “teenage girls revealed something unexpected: 65 percent said seeing their selfies on social media actually boosts their confidence. And 40 percent of all teens say social media helps me present my best face to the world.” (Dahl, 2014). This can contribute as a moral panic with the title “My beauty is only presented in my selfie”. Girls won’t accept their selfie anymore if it isn’t the “perfect selfie” or will valuate their beauty according to the selfie and to the number of likes and comments her selfies get.
It is agreed on the immorality of using nude selfies as for commercial purposes. Well, not for the celebrities. This assumption is gendered. Who cares for a photo of a naked man?… But when it comes to a nude woman, everyone starts to criticize and insult her. Many girls send nude pictures for their boyfriends that are in turn using these photos unethically by posting them on social media and gaining profits. This is considered as a moral panic. Parents are afraid of this happening to their daughters. “These days, children are seen as likely to be exposed to(or, worse yet, exploited for) pornography and sexual encounters”(BAYM), also teens can be influenced in bad habits if they see their friends doing them in their selfies. The Journal of Adolescent Health, suggests that “teens are more likely to engage in risky activities like smoking and drinking if they see their friends doing it in photos.” (Sifferlin, 2013). Other immoral causes of taking selfies are taking a selfie with an unethical background. Example, taking a selfie in front of the red cross helping the victims of a certain explosion or taking a selfie in front of poor African people suffering form starvation. Example of an unethical photo is that of Kevin Carter who committed suicide after capturing the photo of the girl and the vulture.
Taking selfies regularly is not that pleasurable. The real moment of pleasure is being taken away since one is no longer enjoying the reality naturally but digitally. At the same time it is not a big deal to take a selfie too, but taking it in proper times makes more sense of it. No need to exaggerate things. If a selfie isn’t perfect, it’s fine! Since what really matters is the period you are living and taking a memory of not the picture itself. It’s not about being with or without selfies, too much of a thing is bas and to little is not enough… Man should balance and control the selfie issue, not to extend to a more serious one.
Reference
Dahl, M. (2014, Feb. 26). Selfie-esteem: Teens say selfies give a confidence boost. Retrieved from Today: http://www.today.com/parents/selfie-esteem-teens-say-selfies-give-confidence-boost-2D12164198
McKay, T. (2014, March 28). A Psychiatric Study Reveals Selfies Are Far More Dangerous Than You Think. Retrieved from News Mic: https://mic.com/articles/86287/a-psychiatric-study-reveals-selfies-are-far-more-dangerous-than-you-think#.q0JK7DfGo
Scearce, J. (n.d.). The Psychological Explanation For Why We Love Selfies. Retrieved from Life Hack: http://www.lifehack.org/297334/the-psychological-explanation-for-why-love-selfies
Sifferlin, A. (2013, sept. 6). Why Selfies Matter. Retrieved from Time: http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/06/why-selfies-matter/
BAYM. (n.d.). Making sense of new media.
