Post on 01-Nov-2014
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A Seemingly Good Thing With Nega4ve Consequences By: Samuel Chu
Image By: Igna4us Adhitya, Crea4ve Commons License (Flickr)
What Is A Selfie? According to the Oxford Dic4onary, “selfie” is defined as: “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website”
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In recent years the selfie has taken the Internet by storm Selfies populate the internet and across many social media sites
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For example, Snapchat, a photo-‐based messaging service, is processing 350 million photos each day
(Wortham, 2013)
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With the uprising popularity of the selfie, so do concerns of increased vanity, narcissism, and obsession with body image
(Wortham, 2013)
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Image-‐Control: People now have the ability to delete, edit, and manipulate photos, and can create over their self-‐image they want others to see
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But this can lead to poor self-‐esteem and negaHve self-‐perspecHves of body image, even potenHal psychological disorders.
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According to a survey: • 55% of girls and 34% of boys say social media makes them more self-‐conscious of their appearance
• 58% of teen girls say seeing glamorous portrayals of others on social media makes them feel bad about themselves
• 30% of all teens say social media means they need to be “camera ready” (Dahl, 2014)
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According to a study done by three universi4es on 881 female US college students, research found “a link between Hme spent on social networks and negaHve comparisons about body image”.
(Briggs, 2014)
“There's a danger that your self-‐esteem may start to be 4ed to the comments and Likes you get when you post a selfie, and they aren't based on who you are—they're based on what you look like” -‐ Jill Weber, Ph.D. (Walker, 2013)
"Two out of three of all the paHents who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the rise of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly take selfies
-‐ Dr. David Veal (KeaHng, 2014)
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Danny Bowman’s Story: Danny is a BriHsh teenager who aZempted suicide a[er he was unable to take what was the perfect selfie
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He spent roughly 10 hours per day taking up to 200 selfies to take the “perfect” shot
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As it progressed, he dropped out of school, lost 30 lbs and stayed in his house for 6 months to take the perfect picture. He was saved by his mother during the suicide aZempt. (KeaHng, 2013)
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“I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realized I couldn’t, I wanted to die. I lost my friends, my educaHon, and almost my life.”
-‐ Danny Bowman (Kea4ng, 2013)
Image By: sainthuck, Crea4ve Commons License (Flickr)
Another negaHve example of selfies was during March 2014, when the “makeup-‐free selfie” trend emerged
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Many women took “natural” selfies, posHng them with a #nomakeup or #nofilter hashtag to supposedly raise cancer awareness… versus
donaHng money or menHoning how to donate.
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This trend has been criHcized as encouraging the act of “veiling vanity as philanthropy” and not raising genuine awareness for the supposed cause.
(Adegoke, 2014)
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Although on the surface selfies look harmless and fun, such examples, trends and preliminary research
warn us that there may be hidden consequences with their overuse
today.
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This all sounds interes4ng… “But first…
Lemme take a selfie…” -‐ #Selfie by The Chainsmokers
Image By: dcassaa, Crea4ve Commons License (Flickr)
Works Cited Adegoke, Yomi. "The ‘No Makeup Selfie’ Craze Seems like Narcissism Masked as Charity. Why Not Donate Instead?" The
Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 May 2014. <hlp://www.independent.co.uk/voices/
comment/the-‐no-‐makeup-‐selfie-‐craze-‐is-‐just-‐narcissism-‐masked-‐as-‐charity-‐9202929.html>.
Briggs, Helen. "'Selfie' Body Image Warning Issued." BBC News. BBC, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 May 2014. <hlp://
www.bbc.com/news/health-‐26952394>.
Dahl, Melissa. "Selfie-‐esteem: Teens Say Selfies Give a Confidence Boost." TODAY. N.p., 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 May 2014.
<hlp://www.today.com/health/selfie-‐esteem-‐teens-‐say-‐selfies-‐give-‐confidence-‐boost-‐2D12164198>.
Kea4ng, Fiona. "Selfies Linked to Narcissism, Addic4on and Mental Illness, Say Scien4sts." IBT. Interna4onal Business
Times, 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 May 2014. <hlp://www.ib4mes.co.uk/selfies-‐linked-‐narcissism-‐addic4on-‐mental-‐illness-‐say-‐
scien4sts-‐1441480>.
Walker, Melissa. "The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected Consequences of Selfie Obsession." TeenVogue. N.p., Aug.
2013. Web. 20 May 2014. <hlp://www.teenvogue.com/advice/2013-‐08/selfie-‐obsession>.
Wortham, Jenna. "My Selfie, Myself." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 May 2014.
<hlp://www.ny4mes.com/2013/10/20/sunday-‐review/my-‐selfie-‐myself.html?pagewanted=2&pagewanted=all&_r=0>.