Today’s Society and Selfie Culture On January 31, 2014, Reverend Galen Guengerich wrote an article called ‘Selfie’ Culture Promotes a Degraded World View. This article talks about how if people take ridiculous amounts of selfies, it makes them appear narcissistic. The ‘selfie’ is a rather new word, which really took off and skyrocketed in 2013 when an Australian man fell and hit his lip, then posted a picture of himself online. Selfie: “A photograph taken with a smartphone or other digital camera by a person who is also in the photograph…” (selfie). This word, a common word people use today, was introduced and added to the Oxford dictionary in 2013. Guengerich uses the phrase ‘selfie culture’ throughout his article, and this refers to a society, …show more content…
He starts his article talking about when the selfie was first introduced and how in 2013 it was added to the Oxford dictionary. In the following paragraphs, Guengerich states, “Increased sharing of selfies leads to decreased feelings of connection and closeness.” He is saying that people who take a lot of selfies daily, and those who seem caught up in themselves, seem narcissistic, and they should keep their selfies to themselves. Guengerich then gives an example of online dating, and states that if finding a mate who is suitable for someone is so easy, then why not keep looking for someone even better? The author says this to show how some people this day in age are afraid of commitments; they are scared to settle down and start a family and are so caught up thinking there could be someone better out there for them, or they are so focused on themselves and strive to be successful. Guengerich then goes to make the point that “Life is not a selfie. Rather, it is a complex interweaving of relationships that unite us to the world around us” (Guengerich). This statement is the basis of his article, bluntly stating that people need to not focus on themselves and should rather pay more attention to their …show more content…
When we turn the lens of life on ourselves, we create the illusion that we should focus only on what’s best for us.” Guengerich overgeneralizes people as a whole and in doing this, he weakens his argument. While some people are very self-centered and have narcissistic qualities, there are many more who do not. Today, technology plays a huge role in a person’s everyday life. Technology has advanced throughout the years and in doing so, people have changed with it. People have become more self-centered, only worrying about themselves and less on others. They have come to think that everything is disposable and replaceable. Like Guengerich states in his article, “Everyone and everything can be disposed of whenever something better shows up.” This just shows that people are changing, they are less worried about getting married or starting a family and more so on themselves and doing whatever they need to stay
There you are holding your camera an arm’s length away from your face, posing in the most flattering position to capture your best angle. There you are taking a photo of yourself to share with all of your Facebook friends. Taking a self-portrait photo, also known as a selfie, is something almost everyone has done in this new generation. This action is typically done without a second thought. In Alex Williams’ article “Here I Am Taking My Own Picture” that second thought is provoked through exploring the quickly spreading trend of self-portrait photography. In the article while Williams’ provides interesting examples on a changing generation as this trend progresses through social media and modern technology; Williams also leaves something to be desired within the article due to a lack of direction in the author’s stance on the topic.
In the article “What Your Selfies Say About You” by Peggy Drexler, she talks about self-portraits also known as the “selfie”, and how it has taken over social media and added a manifestation to society’s obsession with looks. Taking a self-portrait can be positive in the sense that you are proud of your image and are not scared to share it with others helping boost up your self-esteem. Although this may help others by persuading them to not be ashamed to share their true image, Drexler believes this can also affect other individuals whose focus is only on looks making them feel self-conscious about their looks. A recent study out of the UK found that the selfie phenomenon may be damaging to real world relationships, concluding that both excessive
The essay How You See Yourself by Nicholas Mirzoeff discusses the evolution of art. The author discusses the use of art to represent changing identities over the years including cultural practices and societal expectations. The selfie, according to Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay, is the equivalent of a self-portrait in the previous centuries preceding the technological development required for the present day selfie. The essay explores the different periods and the significance of art, particularly self-portraits, the selfies of the time, and their development over time. The author focuses on different themes including heroism, gender definition, and the focus of an image. Mirzoeff effectively provides examples illustrating and reinforcing the themes he highlights in his essay.
Dramatic Irony is when an author allows the reader to know more than his/her characters in the story. This technique is used by the authors to add suspense to their literature. Edgar Allen Poe created many suspenseful stories using dramatic irony for the purpose of creating themes about human nature. In the short story “The Cask Of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe uses dramatic irony to develop the theme that one should be careful about insulting another because he/she will seek revenge.
Murphy argues that people who take numerous amounts of selfies have the same attributes as psychopaths and narcissists however, that does not always mean that they are. They are just unaware if they do something that may go outside of social standards, especially if it's for a picture. Murphy reveals that selfie takers are insecure and are looking for validation from their peers; however their insecurities are masked over by their confidence. The higher number of likes they get, the more confident they feel. Murphy further states that more people are getting cosmetic surgery due to being discouraged when looking at their selfies but with all the applications that can be used to alter one’s features it isn't hard to feel that way. The apps can make your skin clear and teeth whiter it's hard to look in the mirror when you’ve seen a better version of yourself and it seems attainable. Selfie takers wouldn’t be insecure if they learn that
This quote mentions that selfies are a good way to find oneself even though some people think that selfies give rise to vanity, exhibitionism, and narcissism. Moreover, it is a new relationship us between people; people using a creative expression to show not just simply an appearance, but how people feel in the moment. Selfies are an interesting expression in communication, like telling a visual story about us. From Tompson’s perspective, the selfie is “the perfect preoccupation for our Internet-saturated time, a ready-made platform to record and post our lives where others can see and experience them.” Because selfies give the photographer control over the creation and broadcasting of his own portrayal, they are really just the latest, and perhaps most democratic, form of advertising.
Although Rachel Simmons in “ Selfies Are Good for Girls” and Erin Ryan in “ Selfies Aren’t Empowering. They’re a Cry for Help”, both agree selfies can show accomplishments. However, Simmons believes selfies are a way for young women to boost their pride whereas Ryan defines them as a way to gain social approval confirmation. Simmons believes selfies are empowering, and increase self-confidence levels of young women. According to Simmons “selfie is a tiny pulse of girl pride - a shout-out to the self (P4)”. In other word, she believes self-portrait gives teenage girls an outlet to express pride within themselves. She explains how selfie not only express pride, it is also a way for young women to share their accomplishments, as shown in the
In the article “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie,” John Paul Titlow say’s that “Instagram is the breeding ground for many people’s most narcissistic tendencies.”(122). I disagree with this statement because Instagram is a very useful tool and allows people all over the world to communicate and seek places unknown to them.
A selfie is a picture that you take of yourself especially by using the front camera of your smartphone ("Selfie"). The word was added to the dictionary in 2013 and originates from Australia. A selfie can be used to relive moments with someone but is mostly used for attention. There are people who post more than one selfie a day and that is outrageous. It is one of the most narcissistic acts created because there are people who spend hours a day taking selfies and don 't do anything productive instead. Majority of children know how to take selfies but not tie their shoes. It 's a trend that will never have an end. If anything the trend evolves more each day with gadgets to help take better selfies. There are tools to create a great selfie such as selfie sticks and selfie timers. There are apps to take selfies even if your phone comes with a camera application which is the most logical location on which to take a selfie. The worst selfie application I have seen to this day is the one where it appears that you were wearing make up or have a different hairstyle. The reason why are the worst because some people take it to an extreme level where they hide all of their imperfections and look like a completely different person. I have aunts who take too much advantage of those applications and end up looking as if they belonged in a cartoon. I have met many people from
Furthermore, I’d like to start off by saying that the purpose of our lives is to reproduce in terms of biology, but it’s also to connect with the environment and by that I mean, communicate and socialize with everyone around us for a better and a healthier lifestyle. But because of the technology, the act of socializing directly has been constantly decreasing. It’s crazy thinking about all the kinds of electronic devices that are invented and introduced in the name of connecting with people around the world when all it’s really doing is isolating every single person even from their own neighbourhood,
The shallow, self-promoting aspects of social networking draw in narcissists like a moth to a flame. People who naturally display these traits are the highest users of social media sites. At the same time, extended use of social networking sites and social media applications, particularly the act of posting selfies, resulted in increased levels of narcissism (Halpern 4). It has been shown that those who regularly observe others’ selfies are more likely to leave comments or “like” posts. Interestingly, this relationship is not true for individuals higher in narcissism. Even though they continuously view other people’s photos, they don’t show an increase in interaction with them (Lee
A dependence on technology will not create a utopian society. Relying on technology for everything can create disruption of people’s bonds and love towards family members, disruption in people’s emotions and feelings and disruption to people physically.
In my podcast I talked about the thesis, “The Selfie Generation: Examining the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Early Adolescent Body Image”, written by author, Ilyssa P. Salomon. I discussed briefly about Salomon’s work and findings in her thesis. I chose this thesis because I thought that Salomon’s work fit my objectives on my topic, body image and body dissatisfaction in the adolescent females today. In my podcast I didn’t exactly directly quote Salomon, but the sentence’s that I want to credit to Salomon are, “This study explored how the amount of time spent using social media and the specific behaviors used on social media, namely behaviors that involve self-objectification, were related to early adolescents’ body image (i.e., body shame and body surveillance).” (Salomon, 2017). I also mentioned non-directly from Salomon’s thesis, “The Selfie Generation: Examining the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Early Adolescent Body Image”, that Salomon states, “Three types of social media popular among adolescents were examined: Twitter, Facebook, and
Victoria, Woollaston. "Selfies Are 'damaging' and Leave Young People Vulnerable to Abuse, Claims Psychologist." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Several decades ago, communications philosopher Marshall McLuhan spoke about the development of the Global Village and how the evolution of new technologies would help connect people on opposite sides of the world, creating online communities that would break boundaries and borders. While this change has been recognized, so too has the idea explored by his successors in which while individuals were expected to look at others in the world through a telescope, they have alternatively developed the tendency to look at themselves through a microscope. As the era of worldwide connectivity began, so did the era of ‘me, me, me’. Both the hardware and the software of the new millennium, inclusive of the iPhone’s forward-facing camera, and apps that allow one to fix blemishes and whiten teeth, have adapted to allow this change to an inward focus. While this has certainly caught on, it has also begun to cause a lot of problems. The act of posting about the self began to be seen as a negatively self-centered one when Facebook NewsFeeds were filled with egotistic stories and ‘Selfies,’ photos of the self. Shortly after, the application Instagram was created, where the occurrence of the Selfie was magnified to a greater degree. This intensive focus inward, and the way these pieces of media are shared, have made some individuals reliant on the positive expressions of others for self-confidence and social approval. When self-esteem is intertwined with how many ‘likes’ a photo gets on a mobile application, we start to see a shift in how self-awareness is formed, what people will do for this approval, and how some will react to a lack of attention.