Get Over Your Selfie!

Last week, I watched a high school student walk through a crowded hallway holding her phone in front of her and sticking out her tongue. She was taking a “selfie.” A selfie, for the two readers (I should stop there, right?) who do not know this term, is a picture taken of one’s self by one’s self almost always with a cell phone.

And there are a lot of selfies on the web and social network sites. One could argue that their purpose is to publish them. Many selfies are taken at arms length and look slightly distorted. Some are taken into mirrors.

The rise of the “profile” picture has encouraged people to take lots of photographs of themselves. People of a certain age are now as concerned with documenting their lives as they are with living them. An event doesn’t happen without photos. And nothing works better than a picture of me at an event.

It is seductive. I want to show my friends where I was. I want to take a picture with a celebrity or in front of a landmark. I want to show the world me! See me! Here I am! Look! Look! LOOK!

When my grandmother was packing to move, we discovered her old camera. I suggested that she use it to photograph her apartment. She told me that she didn’t know how to use the camera. I was confused. She had stacks of photos of her travels. However, as I looked at those pictures, I noticed something: she was in all the photos. She had never used her camera. She had always given it to someone else and asked that person to photograph her. Who knew that my grandmother was a trailblazer? She’d do wonderfully on Facebook.

What does it mean to be so focused on taking one’s own picture? When the point isn’t the experience, the sharing, or even the people, we are left with a narcissistic focus on the self –the selfie. It is always about me. Take the picture of me. Look at me. See where I have been and with whom. “Like” me!

And if you are with me, I might just cut you out. Another aspect of this phenomenon is the odd profile picture that is clearly a group shot – but the group has been excised. I have stopped noting how many people have disembodied hands on their shoulders or around their waists. Don’t look at the whole picture: look only at me!

To get you to look at me, I get tagged. Tagging (again for those two readers) is the labeling of the people (if there are other people – or their disconnected limbs) in the photo. Sometimes, we tag people who we wish were in the photo. Or were just outside the photo. Or might like the photo. Look at me!

The way to ruin someone’s perfect self-portrait: bomb it! Photo bombing is the practice of sneaking into someone else’s picture and facing the camera, often with an odd smile or funny face. It is not enough that I have lots of pictures of me; I have to ruin other people’s pictures. When you are looking at your picture, instead you will see me! Don’t look at you; look at me!

There is nothing wrong with a strong sense of self or a healthy ego. However, taken too far, we become all about ego and little else. When the world becomes one big mirror, we become obsessed with our image in it. We are important, yet there is so much more. Our cameras can record beautiful sunsets and landmarks, historic events, and feats of great courage and skill. Or they can be filled our distorted faces with our tongues sticking out.