May 14, 2015 - Written by: Poppy Gillian

The Age of the Selfie: Are We Losing Our ‘Selves’?

Selfies have been around quite a while now. Love them or loathe them it looks like they’re here to stay. When you really think about it, taking a picture of yourself is a bit weird, right? I’m definitely guilty of taking the odd selfie, but I couldn’t imagine constantly uploading new ones to social media – it would be exhausting!

Although selfies look like they were taken in a mere two seconds, the reality is that there were probably many failed attempts. Perhaps the lighting was wrong, or there was a strand of hair that just wouldn’t lie flat, or one eye was a bit squinty.

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Selfies aren’t real.

They are usually pictures of someone, on a really good day with a shit-load of filters. That’s fine; I mean it’s nice to know that there are at least a few decent pictures of yourself that exist. But keeping things up at that level would require serious effort. It’s an effort I’d rather use to do something else.

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Selfies can also create a bit of a lie.

The other day someone sent me a picture of their breakfast- a bunch of grapes. To be honest I didn’t think it looked very appetising. It turns out that the grapes were just a starter and they then went on to have a Mcdonald’s breakfast. Personally I don’t see what’s wrong with having a MaccyD’s, but I guess the healthier option looks better.

Sometimes I think that by taking selfies we are putting ourselves under unnecessary pressure.

Why leave ourselves open to the scrutiny of others when we do that to ourselves already? Imagine if selfies had been around thousands of years ago, we’d have a pretty good idea of what everyone looked like (on a good day) but probably not much else.

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When someone uploads 879 pictures of themselves on holiday, it does make me wonder whether they actually had some time to enjoy it. Life isn’t meant to be lived through a lens.

Selfies are probably sticking around, but let’s not lose ourselves, our time or self-esteem. It would be nice if selfies were to become a celebration of who we are everyday, rather than who we were on a good day.

If you enjoyed this post why not check out ‘Cliques: Friends of Foes?’?