The Negative Impacts Of The Selfie

To take a picture of oneself is not a new concept to us, but the title for such an action has more recently been known as the 'selfie '. This new-term is a fairly modernistic word, which has recently been added to the dictionary and has also created a hit song called, 'But First Let Me Take a Selfie ' by The Chainsmokers (2014). Between our technological advances, to corporately controlled media where we are constantly being told what we should look like, to our personal social media bringing the comparison and self judgment closer to home, these issues have great effects on our developing generations. Once these are addressed, we also need to ask ourselves how are they going to be solved? The selfie concept enables the newest technologically

So, when did taking pictures of ourselves and posting them on social media become such a hit? Taking pictures of yourself is not a new concept; when you wanted a photo of yourself, often times it was much easier to take it yourself than ask someone else to do it for you. An example of technology adapting to make life easier is, when the term selfie was starting to become popularized, cell phone manufactures responded to this by putting cameras on the front of phones thus making it easier to take selfies. Some examples of social media that encourage selfies and can reflect negative influences upon self-esteem plus body image are Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tinder, or any dating sites. Photo editing apps, such as Instagram, Photo Wonder or Facetune all allow you to add filters to your photos. Although, Photo Wonder and Facetune both have the option to white teeth and hide blemishes all to create the perfect selfie that will get all the

Currently Dove provides optional self esteem programs to girls who are in grades 7-8. In reality though, are these truly effective means of teaching girls about how they should see themselves? Also, what about the boys who experience self esteem and body image issues as well, where do they go to get help? Often times these boys are told to man up or be manly as if they are not allowed to show feelings towards body image. Not to mention, is it really that effective if it is optional? Children in that age group usually think it is uncool to attend or the fact it is offered during recess, their only available time to go outside and burn of energy. Therefore, how are we to solve these body image and self esteem issues that the technologically driven generation is facing because they are so focused on fulfilling their ego that they throw away their wellbeing and happiness to fit in. They need to be taught the truth that in the end, the amount of likes they received on a photo will not even matter in the slightest. They cannot let others tell them who they are, or how they should look or dress because individuality in fact benefits the world as a