Your Brand, Your Selfie
To post or not to post. There is no denying that ‘selfieing’ is a common practice today.
The word ‘selfie’ is now defined in the dictionary as “a photograph taken with a smartphone or other digital camera by a person who is also in the photograph, especially for posting on a social-media website.”
A selfie is a brand, your own personal brand.
The demographic for selfies is 18 - 24 year old people. One million selfies are taken globally each day.
Self-image is important, it is how we define our self; it is the way that we want others to see us. As human beings we rely on others’ criticisms or approvals in order to ‘fit in.’
One way to look at a person who posts a selfie is narcissistic, attention seeking, and vein. The other way to view a person who posts a selfie is a person who has total control of what others see (about them) online.
Social media gives us many different outlets in order to promote ourselves. “Now that we can interact with hundreds — no, thousands — of people simultaneously, we’ve strengthened the impact that others have on our self-value,” says Dr. Letamendi.
Celebrities use social media as a main platform in order to promote themselves, their causes, and their work.
One of the most popular figures on social media is Kylie Jenner. She knows how to utilize her resources in order to promote herself.
Kylie Jenner has used media outlets like SnapChat and Instagram to promote her successful cosmetic brand.
Some call her the “queen of selfies” as she posts ‘perfect’ selfies regularly; her constant uploads keep her fans interested and updated with what is happening in her life.
It is no lie that Kylie is scrutinized and praised for her selfie’s all the time. She has created a brand based on her self image and her selfies portray that.
Kylie said, “I take, like, 500 selfies to get one I like. Sometimes I regret putting one up if I find a better one later. I’m like damn, that’s a better photo, but that’s the only thing I regret.”
No matter if the attention is positive, or negative on this selfie or any of the many that she takes. It is getting attention, people are talking, and Kylie is selling herself, her cosmetics, her brand.
Is there a casual relationship between a selfie and a person’s brand? A casual relationship has three general criteria that need to be met before a researcher can claim that one thing is causing another. In this case; is Kylie Jenner’s use of social media and selfies promoting her brand?
Kylie’s selfies draw attention, this is advertising herself, she is a successful business woman. There is a positive correlation between her selfies and the amount of products she has sold and the amount of likes she receives.
The time order — “the variable doing the causing precedes the variable that is caused.” After Kylie posts a selfie with a caption advertising the release of her products, they sell out instantly. One could argue, she effectively posts her selfies so her products sell.
In order to know what is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ selfie to post to promote yourself, you have to know your audience. Kylie is particularly good at calling out her fans, and followers in her posts in order to grab their attention and keep them informed with what is happening in her life.
“For some brands, like GoPro, selfies align perfectly with the brand’s core image — and offer users a compelling way to engage.
‘Our entire company’s mission is to make it easy to self-document and share life’s experiences and look good doing it,’ said Go Pro digital marketing manager, Kevin Platshon.”
When analyzing the content of who takes selfies more often over all, 52% of women have claimed to take a selfie while only 50% of men have. And 36% of people admitted to retouching their selfies.
If you dig deeper into the latent content of these statistics, the content that becomes apparent after a coder (or you) ‘reads between the lines.’ Many people have retouched their image in order to give off the best self-image they can.
Selfies can say a lot about you and your brand, they are a perfect way to advertise who you are. Happy Posting!
