R7- Selfies

             

     Selfies 

              I find it interesting how much we can assume from a selfie we see online. I feel sharing a selfie allows us to share a part of us online, and also allows others to feel a connection to us. However, selfies can be deceiving, an image can only share so much about the person in the photo.

               I have never been a fan of taking selfies, but once Snapchat came out it allowed me to take selfies in a more carefree way since I was only sending them to one person. Especially with all the filters, it made the idea of taking a selfie a little less serious. I realized that when I do take a picture of myself, there is usually someone else in it. When I take a selfie and consider posting it on social media, I usually end up not posting because I am self conscious and don't see them as good enough for the large audience of Instagram. I also feel as though if I am to take a selfie it has to be up to a certain standard and set up in the way that I am doing something fun or picture worthy, have a nice outfit on, and have good hair and makeup. I also find it frustrating because I have to take at least 30 pictures to possibly even like one of them enough to post.

The first selfie I chose is just a picture of me. Most people that know me know me to be kind and friendly, which I feel shows through my smile in this picture. From my outfit, people may be able to tell that it is warm out, or more specifically summer time. My long hair could indicate my gender, female. However, there are many aspects of my identity that are not visible through this picture. In this selfie, my hair is straight, but people that don't know me wouldn't know that I actually have very curly and frizzy hair that I straight everyday because I don't like the way it looks. Another aspect of my identity that is not visible through this selfie is my ethnicity. Usually people are not sure what my ethnicity is by looking at me, but I am mixed- my dad is black and native american, and my mom is white. People looking at this may also not realize that I took around 25 photos just to get this one, and I didn't even post it on social media because I really didn't like the way it turned out.






The second selfie I chose is a selfie of me and my boyfriend. I chose this picture because it makes me happy, and it is rare because I actually posted it on social media. From our outfits, we are clearly at the beach. This could show my socio-economic status being that I am financially stable enough to be able to go on vacation. My female gender can also be seen through the type of bathing suit top I am wearing. My sexuality is clear because of my boyfriend in the picture with me, indicating that I am interested in men.









The third selfie I chose is one from a Snapchat I sent to my best friend. I think it's interesting how different this selfie is than the other two I chose. I look more carefree and less posed. On Snapchat, I feel like it is easier to not care about what the selfie looks like when sending it to one person, but when posting it to another social media platform like Instagram where more people can view it, I feel like I have to think about and plan what I am going to post. An aspect that may not be visible through this image is that I actually was not having fun, and was not happy. Although you can't tell, I was at a Christmas party. It looks like I was enjoying my time, but I was really hiding in the bathroom because I didn't want to socialize. This truly shows how little a selfie can indicate about someones life.






While these selfies do offer a look into who I am, each of these selfies show a performance of my identity on social media. Selfies are definitely significant in relation to how others see me. They are the constructed image of myself that I want to put out to others, and relate to how I think people already view me. I would never post a selfie without wearing makeup, or looking a certain way, because that's not how I want others to see me, even though 99% of the time I'm not put together in real life. Selfies offer a very narrow view into ones' life, and tend to only show the good moments, planned and posed instances, and societal norms.