My first post is going to be inspired by one of our very first assignments where we discussed selfies and what they say about us as a society. To me, a selfie is how I want you to see me, and after more than 30 pictures sometimes do I finally take the one that I think I look best in. Now I am not the only one who does that, but I always wonder how we got so self-absorbed in these kinds of things that they have taken over our lives in some aspects. We feel obligated to constantly take new pictures of ourselves or of us doing something out of the ordinary. It is a funny concept because normally we don’t really think much about selfies, we just kind of do it. The idea of selfies really just sprung out of the blue, not that people didn’t take them before, they just were not as iconic which makes it more interesting.
I know I am one of the biggest advocates for taking selfies, I take tons of them. whether it’s to update my profile picture on Facebook, or if I had a good makeup/hair day. It is hard to not want to when it is something that is so, normal.
Reading Eszter Zimanyi’s piece called Digital Transience: Emplacement and Authorship in Refugee Selfies really changed my perspective on what a selfie really means to and for people.
“A number of scholars have written about the role of the selfie in enacting or performing the self and authoring a personal narrative, while the process of geotagging media has been noted for its ability to create new and shared meanings of particular locations” (Zimanyi ,10).
This excerpt is spot on in how the selfie impacts people on a day to day basis and how they use it to tell a story and to also make sure that their loved ones know they are safe. I never really imagined people using selfies for anything other than gluttony, and this is a beautiful way to use them.
It is just crazy to me how some people will just move along life following the trends of people around them, sometimes without even realizing it. We are all guilty of it.
So yeah, selfies are fun, and will probably be a popular trend for a long time, as well as a vital message to those around them.
Source:
“Digital Transience: Emplacement and Authorship in Refugee Selfies,” Eszter Zimanyi
Visual Representation 