The Selfie Chronicles: Self-Confidence Issues? Take a Selfie!

In the recent years, selfies have been an integral part of modern pop culture. Countless of digital self-portraits scatter around the Internet, and there’s no sign it’s going to let up soon. Dr. Pamela Rutledge, faculty director of the media psychology program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology comments that there are more photographs available now of real people than models.

But what about selfies make it a positive experience? There had been numerous backlashes for them, as discussed in my recent article: The Selfie Chronicles: It’s Not That Bad… Is it? , however there are always two sides of the story and this side isn’t really half bad either.

“Part of the reason for their popularity is that selfies celebrates regular people.” Dr. Pamela Rutledge continues on saying. “There are many more photographs available now of real people than models.”

With all the negative publicity selfies get on a daily basis, people fail to see that selfies are powerful tools. As I have discussed in The Selfie Chronicles: Why Did I Just Do That?, selfies are a tool to control the projective image we put out to the public.

When you see a person taking a selfie, you can’t help but raise a brow or cringe at the act and what seeded to be an odd act despite its popularity. To the outside observer, it can be difficult to understand the point of a selfie. But to the one taking the selfie, it can be a commemoration of an event, or a spontaneous act just for fun. Or maybe the person taking it feels good about himself/herself when he/she takes the photo.

In the Ideal to Real TODAY/AOL Body Image survey conducted earlier this year, 65% of survey takers said that seeing their selfies on social media actually boost their confidence. Selfies seem inconsequential or downright goofy, but they can be important to teens. They are essentially just self-expression

Dove has even launched the documentary film Selfie, depicting school girls and their mothers who are taking a new, brighter look on their most hated body attributes through selfies.

“It’s like your face is the caption and you’re trying to explain a moment like a story.” Frédéric della Faille, the founder and designer of Frontback, a popular new photo-sharing application that lets users take photographs using both front- and rear-facing cameras commented. And as a newbie photographer, I agree. Selfies allow you to portray the whole picture with just your face.

As someone who has low self-esteem, partaking in a small self-portrait project helped me build a little bit of confidence while improving my photography skills. Somehow, it was a way for me to channel all the doubts and insecurities I had in just a few snaps. It allowed me to get used to my face a little bit, even to the point of finding a little bit of beauty in it.

Personally speaking, I have nothing against selfies if done in moderation. There is no right or wrong way either because how you do your selfie reflects who you are as a person. It’s how he/she will project himself/herself as a person. But we should also be mindful of its harms if done too much. The important thing here is to strike a balance, reminding ourselves that selfies are there to tell people we’re here, we’re proud of who we are and we’re not afraid to share it to the world.

 

References:

 

Leave your vote

0 points
Upvote Downvote

Total votes: 0

Upvotes: 0

Upvotes percentage: 0.000000%

Downvotes: 0

Downvotes percentage: 0.000000%

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Psych2Go

Hey there!

Forgot password?

Forgot your password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Close
of

Processing files…