When did we become so self-obsessed? I mean…..selfie obsessed.
It seems like everyone is pointing and shooting at themselves in self admiration and self indulgence. The folks who publish the Oxford Dictionary recently named “Selfie” its 2013 Word of the Year. The dictionary’s definition of “selfie” is a photograph one takes of his/her self with a smart phone or webcam and then uploads to social media site(s).
I think selfies can be fun as long as they are taken at appropriate times and focusing on appropriate parts of the body. But many of them are not very pretty or polite. I keep seeing so many bad examples of selfies that send the wrong message to the younger generation about manners, taking responsibility for your image and consequences from inappropriate actions.
In 2011 Time magazine published an article on the Me Generation of millennials. The article reported “The incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation that’s now 65 or older, according to the National Institutes of Health; 58% more college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982. Read more: The Me Generation – TIME http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00.html#ixzz2nVdIQNn6
But selfies are not limited to self centered 20 somethings. Adults are just as selfie-obsessed.
Powerful people are into selfies these days. President Obama shoots a selfie with the Prime Minister of Denmark during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service causing an uproar. There is even a blog called Selfies at Funerals www.selfiesatfunerals.tumbler.com. Selfies really should not be taken during funerals, memorial services, weddings or other solemn occasions. We should focus on the individual(s) being honored.
Now there are the Pope-erazzi selfies- all in good faith.
While the spirit of selfies is sharing. I also think they can make people too self absorbed. What’s wrong with enjoying a moment without turning it into a photo opp for yourself? And then there is the consequence of posting a bad selfie in a weak moment and hitting send. We need to practice safe selfie knowing the photo may go viral. Here are a few suggestions for exercising smart selfie restraint. Feel free to weigh in.
Avoid “drink and posts.” Inebriated people do not take good photos of themselves or of anyone else. Posting your drunk face on Facebook is just fodder for problems down the road if you plan to apply for a job, are starting to date someone or trying to make a good impression.
Keep it clean. People should not make their private parts public. Some Facebook freak sent me a message with a selfie of his bare crotch asking me to “like” him! Really! Anthony Weiner Tweets a selfie of his crotch and brought down his career and almost destroys his marriage. On the flip side, Kim Kardashian has a robust career shooting selfies of her derriere, much less a sex video. God help us all if people start posting sex selfies.
Be considerate. If you are in a museum, or theater or other place where people have paid good money to view an exhibit or watch a performance, keep your eyes focused on the art and the camera in your pocket. No one paid to watch you photograph yourself in front of a statue or a painting and block their view.
Think of the consequences of what you are shooting and posting. One of the worst selfies of late was the suicide selfie cover in the NY Post. A woman is shooting a selfie while a man is leaping to his death from a bridge behind her.
The Wall Street Journal reported on a new publicity trend, The Twitter Mirror. People at an event pose in front of a table designed with a mirror. They tap the screen to take the photo of themselves and send it out through the event’s Twitter feed. It’s a smart idea for smart phone technology. Of course most of the people in the article were self-obsessed celebrities.
While we’re at it maybe we should all spend a little less time preening in front of a camera to take photos of ourselves and instead peer a little deeper inside of ourselves to see what more we offer up that is not about being so self-focused. Maybe we should practice a little more self(ie) control.
Recently I listened to an amazing performance of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” If you want to make the world a better place just look at yourself, and then make a change.”
That’s my idea of a smart selfie.
