What do selfies mean to me?
Sometimes when I see a selfie, I feel annoyed, bored, or uninspired.
I feel like some people exploit selfies for their personal gain. They use selfies to brag and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Other times I see selfies and I feel fomo (fear of missing out). I feel like I should be taking selfies more often–like I’m missing out on opportunities to post about my life.
I don’t usually turn the camera on myself. I use cameras to see the world, not my own face. But when I do take a selfie, technology feels more personal. I feel a stronger sense of connection and belonging to my social media and social world.
When I look back through my old selfies, I am glad I took them because they remind me of how I felt during those moments. Instead of general pictures or planned photos taken by strangers, selfies display my personality and convey emotion.
Selfies are visual diaries. I feel a stronger connection to myself when I see my selfies.
For example, I went to an Ariana Grande concert last year. I took countless photos and videos of the concert, but only a handful of pictures of myself. When I look back through those photos, the ones that stand out the most are my selfies because they remind me of how I felt in those moments. Seeing my excitement means as much to me as pictures of Ariana Grande performing.
The year before I was accepted to Howard University, my family and I attended Howard’s Homecoming. Again, although I took many pictures that day, I am most entertained by the pictures of myself living in the moment.
Selfies are snapshots of life in action. They capture emotion, who I am, and my feelings about what is going on around me.
At the same time, selfies are intimidating. Not because I am uncomfortable with myself, but because I know people expect a certain image of young women online. I don’t post selfies on social media to look sexy and receive compliments about my attractiveness. Sometimes I start to question why I want to post a selfie because if I don’t want to get attention for how I look, why am I posting my face online? Also, I don’t want to alter my appearance for social media. However, without filters, makeup, or sexy clothing, my selfies feel bare. The entire process can end up feeling frustrating, and my selfies become restrictive instead of liberating.
Last Monday, my Digital Media Literacy class explored selfies. We analyzed selfies from a scientific perspective, discussed our motivations for posting selfies, learned about potential health effects such as selfitis, and observed how people use selfies to fabricate their experiences. My greatest takeaway from that lecture was Dr. Patton’s encouraging message to “reclaim selfies as an art.”
Selfies are to social media what self-portraits are to the art world: expressive, creative, and impactful explorations of identity. At that moment, I remembered selfies can be anything I want them to be because they are a representation of how I see myself.
When I look back through my pictures, I want to see myself living my life, not just an archive of what was going on around me.
With the selfies, a photographer has finally found his place in a photograph. ~ Amit Kalantri
Courtesy of Goodreads
Going forward, I strive to take more selfies to document my perspective, emotions, and identity. I encourage you to see selfies as a form of art and a tool for rediscovering how you see yourself. Be unbothered. Be expressive. Be yourself.
Explorations| Go further 