In the New York Times article “My Selfie, Myself,” Jenna Wortham explains that the selfie is a more effective expression of feeling than text alone. Social media is a big factor with selfies, without it there would be no way of sending others your selfie. Selfies are what helps a person look at how people see them. It lets others know how that person is feeling and what they're experiencing. In addition, Selfies make us recognizable about a specific method of self-expression and communication that is particular in time in the sense that it could materialize only in the moment when various technologies have reached a level of accessibility and development. According to Wortham we are ‘more comfortable’ with seeing faces ‘thanks to services’ …show more content…
This quote mentions that selfies are a good way to find oneself even though some people think that selfies give rise to vanity, exhibitionism, and narcissism. Moreover, it is a new relationship us between people; people using a creative expression to show not just simply an appearance, but how people feel in the moment. Selfies are an interesting expression in communication, like telling a visual story about us. From Tompson’s perspective, the selfie is “the perfect preoccupation for our Internet-saturated time, a ready-made platform to record and post our lives where others can see and experience them.” Because selfies give the photographer control over the creation and broadcasting of his own portrayal, they are really just the latest, and perhaps most democratic, form of advertising. Moreover, Wortham understands the selfie as ‘a kind of visual diary, a way to mark our short existence,’ a dairy of our pictures of our precious moments and memories in our day-to-day lives that we are sharing and putting them up for everyone to see. It is naturally a major role in society today. Selfies have become something of a main factor in the world of social media, which means it’s safe to say that society is getting to a point where the real world and the virtual world overlap almost
Although Rachel Simmons in “ Selfies Are Good for Girls” and Erin Ryan in “ Selfies Aren’t Empowering. They’re a Cry for Help”, both agree selfies can show accomplishments. However, Simmons believes selfies are a way for young women to boost their pride whereas Ryan defines them as a way to gain social approval confirmation. Simmons believes selfies are empowering, and increase self-confidence levels of young women. According to Simmons “selfie is a tiny pulse of girl pride - a shout-out to the self (P4)”. In other word, she believes self-portrait gives teenage girls an outlet to express pride within themselves. She explains how selfie not only express pride, it is also a way for young women to share their accomplishments, as shown in the
The book I chose to read was “Smile for the Camera” by Kelle James, Copyrighted in 2010. It starts off with chapter one. Kelle, the main character, is lying in bed when her dad walks in. he has a gun in his hand and hes crying, not a good combination according to her. Kelle pretends to be asleep. She decides she needs to leave home. That’s where chapter two begins. She climbs onto the enormous Greyhound bus with her suitcase in hand. She waves goodbye to her father but he only nods. Kelle’s father never really liked her. In fact he hated her. As the bus pulls away, her father waves to her. Kelle was on her way to New York City.
Murphy argues that people who take numerous amounts of selfies have the same attributes as psychopaths and narcissists however, that does not always mean that they are. They are just unaware if they do something that may go outside of social standards, especially if it's for a picture. Murphy reveals that selfie takers are insecure and are looking for validation from their peers; however their insecurities are masked over by their confidence. The higher number of likes they get, the more confident they feel. Murphy further states that more people are getting cosmetic surgery due to being discouraged when looking at their selfies but with all the applications that can be used to alter one’s features it isn't hard to feel that way. The apps can make your skin clear and teeth whiter it's hard to look in the mirror when you’ve seen a better version of yourself and it seems attainable. Selfie takers wouldn’t be insecure if they learn that
For centuries, humans have used their interaction with one another to help shape outsiders' perceptions of them. Often communication experts refer to this as constructing one’s “social identity.” For many years, this projection of self-came through interpersonal communication; face-to-face communication or other forms of personal interaction. In the progress of technology, this development of one’s personal attributes has come to include photographs, letters, published and unpublished writings, and physical attributes. Many aspects of a person’s “identity” as others see it are difficult and almost impossible to define. In the modern age, such vague characteristics are both helped and hindered by using social media and the internet to “construct”
...ndividual subject in the image, and perhaps by putting themselves in their shoes, deepen their understanding of their own autonomy. Once one is able to find the application to themselves, they have successfully filtered the subjectivity of the photographer, and established their own subjectivity towards the image.
According to the author, “The centrality of personal autonomy and individualism in privacy discourse is reflected in the growing perception of our self-image as our own property.” Could this growing perception, including negative viewpoints on photographers, be credited to the rise of social media? I feel like apps such as Instagram and Facebook, in which we post pictures of ourselves on our personal profiles, encouraged us all to believe that our self-image is our own property.
In the article “What Your Selfies Say About You” by Peggy Drexler, she talks about self-portraits also known as the “selfie”, and how it has taken over social media and added a manifestation to society’s obsession with looks. Taking a self-portrait can be positive in the sense that you are proud of your image and are not scared to share it with others helping boost up your self-esteem. Although this may help others by persuading them to not be ashamed to share their true image, Drexler believes this can also affect other individuals whose focus is only on looks making them feel self-conscious about their looks. A recent study out of the UK found that the selfie phenomenon may be damaging to real world relationships, concluding that both excessive
Instead he tries to understand the positive effects if this dramatic increase in the influences of social media over our lives. Titlow describes it as a break from the highly edited and crafted world of popular media and advertisement photography, stating, “It used to be that most of the photographs of other people we encountered were carefully crafted images of flawless-looking individuals portrayed in popular media and advertising.” In contrast, while some images are still edited on social media, the degree in which this done is severally decrease. Society is growing use to seeing images of everyday people instead of celebrities or models. In addition with the increase in popularity of the social media platform Snapchat, even the photographs of celebrities or models we see are not as professionally crafted, despite a silly puppy or flower crown filter. Titlow then goes on to reference psychologist’s fear of the effects of those carefully construction images from popular media on one’s self image. He connects the idea of these less processed and more diverse images from Instagram or other platforms as a solution to these fears. It’s a simple concept, when people are surrounded by pictures of real people instead of one’s with unattainable beauty standards, they are less likely to hold themselves to such unrealistic
In the article “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie,” John Paul Titlow say’s that “Instagram is the breeding ground for many people’s most narcissistic tendencies.”(122). I disagree with this statement because Instagram is a very useful tool and allows people all over the world to communicate and seek places unknown to them.
The essay How You See Yourself by Nicholas Mirzoeff discusses the evolution of art. The author discusses the use of art to represent changing identities over the years including cultural practices and societal expectations. The selfie, according to Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay, is the equivalent of a self-portrait in the previous centuries preceding the technological development required for the present day selfie. The essay explores the different periods and the significance of art, particularly self-portraits, the selfies of the time, and their development over time. The author focuses on different themes including heroism, gender definition, and the focus of an image. Mirzoeff effectively provides examples illustrating and reinforcing the themes he highlights in his essay.
There you are holding your camera an arm’s length away from your face, posing in the most flattering position to capture your best angle. There you are taking a photo of yourself to share with all of your Facebook friends. Taking a self-portrait photo, also known as a selfie, is something almost everyone has done in this new generation. This action is typically done without a second thought. In Alex Williams’ article “Here I Am Taking My Own Picture” that second thought is provoked through exploring the quickly spreading trend of self-portrait photography. In the article while Williams’ provides interesting examples on a changing generation as this trend progresses through social media and modern technology; Williams also leaves something to be desired within the article due to a lack of direction in the author’s stance on the topic.
Photography allows us to maintain memories and relish them whenever we desire. Although some advocates might argue that people are no longer enjoying experiences instead taking more pictures, in the essay, “Why We Take Pictures”, by Susan Sontag, she conflates that photography can be used as a defense against anxiety and a tool of empowerment. I agree with Sontag on the significance of photographs and how it allows us to store a part of our extended relatives so we are able to hold on the memories of family. Therefore, we must appreciate how photography allows us to manage anxiety, express feelings and remember our loved ones.
The invention of Snap Chat was literally an accident; two measly college students got bored and that’s why they invented Snap Chat. This app has revolutionized photo taking to a whole new level. In this paper I will talk about, who invented Snap Chat, how Snap Chat became popular, why teens use it and how Snap Chat influenced our culture.
Selfie-Loathing: Here’s Why Instagram Is Even More Depressing than Facebook. Slate Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/instagram_and_self_esteem_why_the_photo_sharing_network_is_even_more_depressing.html
Several decades ago, communications philosopher Marshall McLuhan spoke about the development of the Global Village and how the evolution of new technologies would help connect people on opposite sides of the world, creating online communities that would break boundaries and borders. While this change has been recognized, so too has the idea explored by his successors in which while individuals were expected to look at others in the world through a telescope, they have alternatively developed the tendency to look at themselves through a microscope. As the era of worldwide connectivity began, so did the era of ‘me, me, me’. Both the hardware and the software of the new millennium, inclusive of the iPhone’s forward-facing camera, and apps that allow one to fix blemishes and whiten teeth, have adapted to allow this change to an inward focus. While this has certainly caught on, it has also begun to cause a lot of problems. The act of posting about the self began to be seen as a negatively self-centered one when Facebook NewsFeeds were filled with egotistic stories and ‘Selfies,’ photos of the self. Shortly after, the application Instagram was created, where the occurrence of the Selfie was magnified to a greater degree. This intensive focus inward, and the way these pieces of media are shared, have made some individuals reliant on the positive expressions of others for self-confidence and social approval. When self-esteem is intertwined with how many ‘likes’ a photo gets on a mobile application, we start to see a shift in how self-awareness is formed, what people will do for this approval, and how some will react to a lack of attention.