#selfies & #selfportraits
A research study published in the Journal of Research in Personality in July 2019 revealed an unsurprising fact: people who consistently post #selfies on their social media, as opposed to photos taken by others, are perceived negatively by their peers. Adjectives used to describe selfie and self-portrait loving individuals include insecure, attention-seeking, narcissistic, lonely. As a shameless selfie-loving individual myself, I sometimes wonder at the triggered responses selfies and self-portraits almost universally illicit in others on social media. The occasional selfie is acceptable and perhaps even mandated if you have a social media account, while a series of them is met with disdain and judgement as if to say, you’re allowed to love yourself, but only a little bit.
The hyper-popularity of selfies in today’s social media climate, particularly among the young and “sexy”, contributes in part to the negative attention they attract. The {mis}perception is that people who consistently post selfies are necessarily seeking external approval of their appearance in the form of likes and positive feedback and may resort to myriad tactics to achieve this including digitally altering their images to present a false self to the public. This is no doubt true in some cases, perhaps most cases. But, I also wonder however if the triggered negative response from others to those they perceive as posting too many selfies comes from a deeper place within. A place of personal insecurity and in some extreme cases, self-hatred.
We often experience negative emotions when faced with aspects of ourselves we dislike or attempt to conceal. When these are mirrored back to us through the behaviours of others, our reactions are visceral, almost uncontrollable. In this way, your personal triggers are an invitation to look deeper within. The question: “Why am I {truly} bothered by this?” is a good place to start.
From personal experience I can say that selfies and self-portraits can become very powerful tools for self-expression, self-exploration and self-acceptance when employed from the right frame of mind. The willingness to see both the negative and positive aspects of oneself and unwavering confidence is required on the path to #selfiedom which often begins from the simple enough place of superficiality. As with most things however, continued action begins to reveal a pattern and superficiality soon morphs into deep questioning. Those driven by likeability on social media soon abandon the path, fearful of resistance from others. Those who are willing to discover hidden aspects of themselves press on. In this way, taking and sharing selfies to social media is far from conformist behaviour. Behind every carefully chosen and edited selfie is an untold story of emotions and motivations. Posting a selfie or self-portrait when you feel down-trodden is an act of bravery. Posting a selfie when you feel unattractive is an act of self-love. Posting a selfie to attract attention provides you with valuable insight into your inner machinations and your sense of self-worth. Posting a selfie just to post a selfie is living your truth. After some time you begin to see yourself through your own eyes and not through the eyes of others and your sense of self and agency returns. Selfies and self-portraits are the story of you, told by you, for you. That’s powerful.
Personally for me as well, selfies and self-portraits have become my practice of the art of photography. I am an available and willing subject and I like to think I suit the role of model quite well :).
