Selfies
SecretAgent
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 64
Location: Mitchell county, NC
What I hate most about them is that they seem to always be taken in the bathroom in the mirror reflection, often with the toilet in the background. Like what the heck, nobody wants to see that. And you can always see the phone right there near their face and it looks dumb. I don't understand this trend because it's just not necessary! Most smartphones have a front-facing camera so you can see yourself while taking a picture. And if not... well, I used a mirror and a digital camera to take my profile pic, and you totally can't tell.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates them: it's a hatred I have that is really intense.
Selfies are ugly. They're weird. They're self-indulgent.
I know people who have gone on overseas holidays, and all their photos are selfies with their distorted "I'm trying to smile here!" face taking up 3/4 of the screen with some landmark in the background. I mean you're at a tourist trap and you couldn't find an obliging stranger to take a natural-looking photo of you?
Then there are group selfies which I don't get either.
I'll take the selfies over some of the self-absorbed, idiotic status updates that some people put on Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I actually like FB and find it is a gentle way for me to interact with people that is pretty non-threatening. I even enjoy seeing all the normal status updates, but when people use three paragraphs to rant about their boyfriend cheating on them with his "baby's mama" in graphic detail, well that I can do without!
No, you're not weird. I don't get it either. I don't understand why people feel the need to take so many pictures of themselves, first of all, and secondly, to post them on the internet every day.
I also don't get why girls take group pictures of themselves doing ordinary things, like sitting on a bench in the mall, or out at a club on a Friday night. What happened to taking pictures of memorable events? Now, people take pictures of everyday, ordinary things. And I also don't get why people feel the need to take pictures of their food and post them on the internet. If it tastes amazing and you want to tell people they should go to this restaurant and order this dish, or if it's especially artful, ok, but ordinary, everyday food? (as in, a picture of tacos with the caption "having tacos!" or something like that). I just don't get it.
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I also don't get why girls take group pictures of themselves doing ordinary things, like sitting on a bench in the mall, or out at a club on a Friday night. What happened to taking pictures of memorable events? Now, people take pictures of everyday, ordinary things. And I also don't get why people feel the need to take pictures of their food and post them on the internet. If it tastes amazing and you want to tell people they should go to this restaurant and order this dish, or if it's especially artful, ok, but ordinary, everyday food? (as in, a picture of tacos with the caption "having tacos!" or something like that). I just don't get it.
They do it for likes/comments on social media sites. It has unfortunately become a new gauge of popularity.
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“Oh - You're a very bad man!
Oh, no my dear. I'm a very good man. I'm just a very bad Wizard.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
I also don't get why girls take group pictures of themselves doing ordinary things, like sitting on a bench in the mall, or out at a club on a Friday night. What happened to taking pictures of memorable events? Now, people take pictures of everyday, ordinary things. And I also don't get why people feel the need to take pictures of their food and post them on the internet. If it tastes amazing and you want to tell people they should go to this restaurant and order this dish, or if it's especially artful, ok, but ordinary, everyday food? (as in, a picture of tacos with the caption "having tacos!" or something like that). I just don't get it.
They do it for likes/comments on social media sites. It has unfortunately become a new gauge of popularity.
Yep, the number of likes on a posted picture of yourself measures your popularity. And popularity means more self-esteem, which is the fundamental reason people do it.
I've never taken a selfie, so i can only guess why they are so popular. Look at images in the media, 'the beautiful people' are everywhere.
From childhood the selfie generation has also experienced environmental images of the best looking men and women on buses, billboards, posters in shop windows etc. Basically its everywhere. Public success often hinges on image, not necessarily talent. This is a message that many young people are exposed to, so amongst other things, they take beautiful selfies, because its a regular thing to do now. (Beauty is subjective and pleasing to look at, be it a portrait, a landscape, an object... )
A picture of a sandwich though, it could be a new method of communication through images, or boredom I have no idea
From childhood the selfie generation has also experienced environmental images of the best looking men and women on buses, billboards, posters in shop windows etc. Basically its everywhere. Public success often hinges on image, not necessarily talent. This is a message that many young people are exposed to, so amongst other things, they take beautiful selfies, because its a regular thing to do now. (Beauty is subjective and pleasing to look at, be it a portrait, a landscape, an object... )
A picture of a sandwich though, it could be a new method of communication through images, or boredom I have no idea
I think every generation that has lived in modern advertising has grown up looking at images of the best looking men and women. The biggest difference is that the perception of beauty changes with each generation.
I think a lot of people do it because everyone else is.
Is using a timer considered a selfie though? I thought the archetypal selfie was when one is holding the camera at a weird angle so their face is taking up most of the frame.
Very true. The flash against the mirror hurts my eyes and the sanitary issues are too numerous to think about.
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I find your lack of faith disturbing.
I also don't get why girls take group pictures of themselves doing ordinary things, like sitting on a bench in the mall, or out at a club on a Friday night. What happened to taking pictures of memorable events? Now, people take pictures of everyday, ordinary things. And I also don't get why people feel the need to take pictures of their food and post them on the internet. If it tastes amazing and you want to tell people they should go to this restaurant and order this dish, or if it's especially artful, ok, but ordinary, everyday food? (as in, a picture of tacos with the caption "having tacos!" or something like that). I just don't get it.
They do it for likes/comments on social media sites. It has unfortunately become a new gauge of popularity.
Maybe if people focused more on having one or two really good friends, the whole concept of being popular would seem more bizarre and the idea of seeking popularity itself would become unpopular.
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I find your lack of faith disturbing.
@perpetual_padawan I don't think most people would consider a self-timer photo a selfie. It is a self-portrait, though. I think if more people knew about self-timers and used them, there would be less poor quality selfies.
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dottsie
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: 7 Mar 2013
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Posts: 181
Location: In a UFO to spaaaace probably
I, myself, don't really like taking selfies all that much just because I'm self conscious about how I look. But I guess people take them so much because they think they're fun, and they want to show the world their face if they feel like they look nice that day. I don't see anything wrong with that, since they're not hurting anybody, you know?
I think it is a new art form. There were no selfies until cameras started showing up on cellphones, and there were places to post them on the www... like deviantart.com. Some kids were soo good at it.
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