We were assigned to watch this video and in it a young lady describes the different types of selfies people take. At first it seemed ridiculous but as she continued explaining it started to resonate with me. Personally I don't take many selfies but when I do I follow all of the guidelines that she explained in the video. It's almost natural to look for the best lightning but I truly started to question why I try to take a selfie with the camera high above. I realized that the reason I do it is because of follow the trend and culture around selfies. When I snapchat my friends I purposely try to make the ugliest face possible or I put on a silly filter for entertainment. The way we communicate through mediums such as Snapchat and Instagram have been dominated by the selfie phenomenon.
The video truly made me self reflect on what a selfie could represent. Most selfies are suppose to show off your beauty. Uglies are meant to show those flaws. Groupies are meant to show how close knit you are with friends or family. While I participate in this culture I never view it as separate aspects meant to signify different parts of me. I simply see it as taking a picture that will go on social media.
The simple fact that the word "selfie" is in the dictionary shows how this concept is being domesticated. Our culture continues to change because technology is constantly being integrated. Before you comment on this blog, take a second and take a selfie.
5 comments:
Zeke, I wrote about selfies too! I feel like I definitely fall into some selfie trends but for the most part, I'm not that involved. I have never taken a perfect selfie or made sure I had great lighting. I usually post uglies or groupies because I like sharing what I am doing. When I post an uglie because I got caught in the rain, spilled coffee on myself, or I just discovered a new filter. With groupies I'm doing something with my friend! I like to capture that memory and experience not only for myself but my other friends in the picture. Also, I liked that you provided one of your selfies as an example, I did too. Nice post!
I like how at first you felt like you didn't associate so much with taking selfies but found away to connect it to your own behaviour through further reflection. I also liked the sample selfie!
Interesting that you pointed out how Selfies are also all about following the trend. Is there anything that doesn't follow the trend anymore? Also, how do you think the reception would be if you posted a selfie that wasn't like yourself/the trend?
Another great blog Zeke. It truly is interesting how people take the time to take a selfie and may not even realize it. I have caught myself before trying to get the right angle or certain look for selfie.
Zeke - Thinking about our own process behind taking a selfie is always interesting, and I enjoyed reading your reflection on how you take these photos. Your points about what a selfie can symbolize are important and I wanted to know more about what you think. Why is it necessary for people, like you or the video you watched in class, to dig deeper into selfies? Why read into the significance of such photos?
Last semester, I also wrote a blog post on selfies: (http://mysassysentiments.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-letter-to-selfie-haters.html) In this, I attempted to break down the idea that selfies are narcissistic because really everything we post on our social media is "an exercise of self-obsession." You don't mention what you think about selfies - what do you think? Are they narcissistic in your eyes? You say that selfies are supposed to show off your beauty, which is something that I don't necessarily agree with. I rarely utilize selfies to show off my beauty. Do most of the selfies you see online or on Snapchat seem to do this? It's extremely difficult to talk about selfies because often times, we are assuming things based off a photo. People say they are narcissitic or that the person is trying to be pretty, but how can we make this judgment?
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