Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter we all know them. Most of what we do on those sites is take selfies. A selfie is a picture of yourself or a group in one photo. Selfies have become so popular that there are even selfie sticks that hold your phone while you take a selfie.
Selfie is most popular among younger social media users. Among today’s preteens and adolescents arguing that the self-portraits are an extension of their self-absorption, while others view it as nothing more than an outlet for self-expression, which just happen to be shared more publicly through the communication mode of our times “social media”.
But how aware are young children, or even teens, about the impression that their selfies leave? Do they appreciate that with their likenesses, they are often sending strong visual messages some even suggestive that they might not want conveyed? Developmentally, selfies make sense for children and teens. And for the most part, they are simply reflections of their self-exploration and nothing more. Self captured images allow young adults and teens to express their mood states and share important experiences.
But even though taking selfies is a part of growing up digital, that doesn’t mean all self-portraits are okay. Like all behaviors that children and teens test out, parents should help them to learn the limits and guidelines for which types of pictures are acceptable and which are not. Pre-teens and even adolescents they do need to be aware that their actions may have consequences, why it’s not acceptable to send out inappropriate suggestive picture, is more constructive than blocking their account or taking their device.
We all know selfies as a quick minute thing get your phone turn around to the camera then snap the picture. Did you know that selfies have a history from long time ago, and I am not just talking about ten years ago, I’m talking about hundreds years ago! The first known selfie was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. He was a pioneer in photography and took a picture of himself with an old camera called a daguerreotype which is also one of the first photographs of a person, because a daguerreotype was the first ever camera that was invented by Louis Daguerre on the same year.
To take a selfie there is really no way of the ‘instructions’. All you really need to know is that put your camera in different angles and make funny faces. Also when you are taking a photograph with a group of people you don’t have control of how it will come out. And a lot of times this is really unfortunate considering you also don’t have control of which number of people will see it. When you take a selfie in your house, you can coordinate the exact lighting, locations, and outfit and most importantly you can take it from your most favorable angle! This allows for the social media world to see you at your best.
If you’re not (yet) familiar with the selfie stick, it is a long device people are using to take cell phone “selfies” that include more than they could fit in the picture by holding the phone at arm’s length. There is a vote of the week which says: Should Theme Parks Ban Selfie Sticks. This happened because people start using a selfie stick on Splash Mountain in Theme Parks like Disney, whereby, the park worker has to come on the intercom several times throughout the ride telling them to keep their camera in the boat. I think it is very disruptive because the announcement cut out the ride audio every time. I think this can be super annoyed.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Use what you have properly?” Well that phrase applies to this too. Sometimes I think some people can’t use their commonsense (As my mom like to tell us all the time it is good to “use your commonsense child”)
Most of people who are using self stick on the rides are older. I think it is nice to try to be considerate to others. If I will have a self stick, I will never use it on a ride, seems a little dangerous on some point. There is a time and place for everything and we should all use things the right way. At least I know this and I am just 10 years old! We should always use what we have properly especially our electronic device.
In my opinion, I think people like to take selfies because they send it to their friends to show their new hair cut or new dress. The way I like to take a selfie is making a funny face, and when I look at them it will make me laugh and smile.
I hope we all have learned something new today from reading this article and I hope you will have a great weekend.
Joanne K.