It’s easy: Flip the view on your phone and hold it at a high angle, making your eyes look bigger and your cheekbones more defined. Position your thumb over the button, turn to your best side, and click.
The art of the selfie is one that lots of people have practiced and perfected in recent years. Seriously, lots. As of press time, more than 31 million Instagram photos have been hashtagged #selfie, and according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center, 91 percent of teens have posted a photo of themselves online. You’re not alone: Celebrities like Banky W, PSquare & Justin Bieber are perpetual selfie posters, as you’ve likely noticed. And when even the Mars rover is programmed to be able to take photos of itself, you know selfies are more than just a trend. They’re here to stay.
There are many more photographs available now of real people than models. And posting selfies is an empowering act for another reason: It allows you to control your image online. But let’s be real: The most common selfie is the one where you look cute, partially because it’s a quick way to get positive comments about your appearance.
Sure, showing off a new outfit or that you’re at a cool event is fun, but it can be a slippery slope. Psychologist Jill Weber, Ph.D., says there’s a danger that your self-esteem may start to be tied 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. On one hand, seeking validation is totally normal, Dr. Weber explains: “It’s a healthy way for teenagers to develop their identity.” But with social networks, where it’s easy to get quick hits of approval almost constantly, the selfie thing can quickly spiral out of control. It may even start to feel like an addiction: When you get a “GORGE,” you’re up, but when you get nothing—or a “get over yourself”—your confidence can plummet. Girls in particular are socialized toward seeing themselves as lovable and worthwhile only if others value them, Dr. Weber notes, and “selfie culture is a way for this tendency to go into overdrive.”
That could be one explanation for total selfie overload (aka when you see ten photos in a row of the same person in your feed—overkill alert!). “My friends and I joke about people who have selfies as their cell phone backgrounds,” says Cora*, seventeen, from Massachusetts. “It seems like they have nothing important in their lives other than the way they look, which is pretty shallow.” But according to Dr. Weber, there’s more to it than that. “In my experience, girls who repeatedly post selfies struggle with low self-esteem,” she says.
Overall, opinions vary on whether selfie culture is lame or legit, which means it’s up to you to shape the future of the habit. Ask yourself: Are my selfies for fun, or do I need the comments? If you fall under category two, Dr. Rutledge recommends shifting your perspective. That could mean cutting selfies out entirely or just scaling back and making them more fun. Bottom line? Everything you share on social media reveals something about you, and you are in control. So maybe you like to travel, or read, or dance, or create crazy 3-D nail art … post that! Take it from us: It’s so much more interesting.
