Selfie Assessment

 

As somebody who grew up as part of the generation that lives on Instagram, it was not until I read this article by Margaret Nichols that I realized how wild it all is when broken down and studied. I had never really thought much into it. A selfie is a selfie and it simply is a reason to maintain your social media activity. This is another thing that never really seemed odd to me. It's my normal. However, I am now going to attempt to look at my posts from a different perspective, and try to understand the "why" and then examine whether it aligns with Nichols' opinions or not.

To start, let's look at the selfie on the top left. That picture was taking during a time where my self-confidence had finally grown. It was taken fresh after a new haircut as well, which I wanted to share with my friends. I think it's worth mentioning that my Instagram is set to private, so the only ones that have access are people who I actually care sharing any part of myself with. The thing that was different about this picture though, is that now that I had a new hairstyle, my acne had finally cleared up, and the lighting was hitting just right, I felt as though I had unlocked a new part of myself. For the first time, I had posed without a smile. I was going for the look that the biggest models do. And thinking I could pull it off was perhaps mistaken as narcissism, as Nichols would probably say, but I believe that there is a fine line between that and confidence.

The second picture is a lot more recent. I had no problem posting a picture where I had a more serious, pouty look as I knew my followers had seen it before, unlike the first picture. When posting pictures like this, there is definitely a thought that passes through my mind if even for a second that wonders what my friends/followers will think of me. Perhaps this is because my personality in real life does not necessarily portray those poses in the pictures. Maybe this is what Nichols talks about when discussing the sort of fake construction of ourselves that we put out on social media. It definitely portrays a part of me, but not one that I am 100% confident at showing to people in person. Maybe that is considered egotistic. 

Nichols discusses that selfies are an encapsulation of violence. This, I think, is a bit extreme. In an era where it is the new norm, I doubt the majority of people have any intention of harm when photographing themselves. Sure, it could be a misrepresentation, or what some like to refer to as "catfishing," but who wouldn't want to look better for others? Do we not dress up in our most professional attire to impress an interviewer, or in our most flattering dresses to catch someone's eye at a ball? Why can't these pictures be considered that? I don't disregard that images of women, especially models and celebrities, portraying themselves as more perfect than they truly are might cause insecurities and an increase in mental illnesses. But that is a different conversation.

I included the bottom two pictures to put myself into the context of real-life friends. When looking back at these photos, I thought it was sort of comical that my friend, Sarrah, and I had the exact same poses in both. In one, we both have kissy faces -- the other, both smiling. Is this a coincidence? Probably not. Is it also coincidence that I have that pouty look I was talking about in neither of these? Also no. This is probably the best representation of my day-to-day self. And the best way to show this was to photograph what I am like around other people. It speaks to my personality in how it matches whoever I am speaking to, and that's how I've always been. 

Nichols might have gone out of her way to demonize selfies. When looking at this from a bit of an outside perspective, I don't disagree that it's odd how teenagers and young adults care so much to craft this portrait of themselves with building an "aesthetic" and maintaining a certain following to follower ratio. I would perhaps even go as far as to say it's a bit obsessive for some. But this is not something I would generalize. Although to some it could be a way to feed into their narcissism, to others it might be nothing more than an easy way to stay in touch with their loved ones through the convenient method of social media.