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Selfies raise questions on self worth

“After we go to the bathroom, can we go smoke a cigarette? I really need one, but first: Let me take a selfie,” are a few lyrics from the song “#Selfie” by The Chainsmokers.

“#Selfie” hit the radio in January and has since been an unforgettable tune. “Selfie” was even deemed word of the year by The Oxford Dictionaries in 2013, and just this past December, celebrity hunk James Franco published an article in the New York Times praising the power of selfies. So, what is it about this word that makes it such a big deal? Why is it so relevant to today’s generation?

According to Yahoo!, approximately 880 billion selfies will be taken this year, and in December of last year, 40 million posts alone incuded “#selfie” under their tags.

James Franco wrote in his article that for celebrities, the selfie “has value regardless of the photo’s quality because it is ostensibly an intimate shot of someone whom the public is curious about. It is a prize shot that the paparazzi would kill for, because they would make good money; it is the shot that the magazines and blogs want, because it pulls the readers close to the subject.” He also claims that the non-celebrity selfie is “the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, ‘hello, this is me.’”

Although Franco makes a valid point, he doesn’t address the vulnerability behind selfie posts.

According to The Telegraph, children and young age groups are now “developing inappropriate self awareness at a much earlier age … When they fail to attract the desired attention or approval, this can damage their self confidence.”

Users will edit their images with photoshop, spend a ridiculous amount of time choosing a filter and stare at their phones after posting an image just to see how many likes they can acquire within a few minutes. The process is summed up by The Chainsmokers lyrics.

“Can you guys help me a pick a filter? … I wanna look tan. What should my caption be? … I only got like 10 likes in the last five minutes. Do you think I should take it down? Let me take another selfie.”

Let’s face it: a selfie is just a narcissistic way to show off a pretty or handsome face, not the qualities or what someone is truly capable of.

Social media has made it okay to feel and believe that the world revolves around a single person. Twitter and Facebook allow users to post rants and thoughts about things that have contributed to their day and as many images that are exclusive to their world as they like.

Celebrity and TV-personality Kylie Jenner was even dubbed the “Selfie Queen” for having more than 451 selfies on her Instagram in an article from Digital Marketing Ramblings, an online website that tracks the latest digital marketing stats and trends.

The selfie concept has turned into a stage where most people don’t bother to educate themselves on what’s going on politically or economically and people would rather spend their time receiving compliments from strangers who can view their photo by clicking on the “#selfie.”

Not all hope is lost in this selfie nation, however. Franco wrote that “selfies are tools of communication more than marks of vanity… The selfie quickly and easily shows, not tells, how you’re feeling, where you are, what you’re doing.”

 If the majority of people took the time to implement change and positive messages when posting images of themselves, selfies could potentially be worthwhile.

For example, fitness guru Sophie Gray, a former model, has well over 84,000 followers on Instagram. She posts selfies in which she wears no makeup, with captions encouraging others to not “allow the opinions of others to hold you back from being your beautifully unique self.” If the selfie is a “tool of communication,” it’s time to turn it into a positive force.

Social media is a platform that can uproot a significant amount of change if we take the time to motivate and inspire others instead of simply promoting ourselves on the Internet.

Tiffany Ngo is a senior journalism major and contributing writer at the Daily 49er.

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