Taking pictures of myself, self, self
Taking pictures of myself, self self
Guess I’m reaching out to be assured
All I wanted was to be adored
– Nina Nesbitt, “Selfies”
It’s 1 : 17 PM on day 1432 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Psalm 120, feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast and help my brother with his speech – he has to speak about Gandhi soon I didn’t write his speech just thought I’d help him compile information.
Recently I’ve been seeing selfies floating around in cyberspace (I didn’t even know what selfies were until my sister explained it to me) maybe it’s just me but it seems a little self-absorbed to sit around taking pictures of yourself for no apparent reason when there is so much need in the world.
It is said that seeing is believing and there may be something to that, something that is psychologically meaningful. Perhaps it goes beyond this.
I don’t imagine it’s trivial that we need to be accepted, to be loved or admired. I even imagine that it’s ontological, existential and a moral necessity.
Selfies may be speaking to these things. The problematic that selfies can represent, however, is also worthy of our consideration: pride, disympathy, narcissism, egotism, disconnectivity, immaturity, apathy, etc.
In terms of social media, what ratio of selfies to other content is problematic? I’d be concerned if a person posted more than one selfie per twenty posts. But selfies are not the only indicator of a self-absorbed, incomplete and problematic personality.
Lack of interest in others and what they are doing can be equally telling. Also – lack of (or narrow) curiosity, self understanding, conscience, compassion and devotion to others.
Twitter and Facebook timelines aren’t just biographical, they say a lot about who we are. Failure to share posts by your friends or retweet them is just as problematic as frequently posting selfies.
Correction: Twitter and Facebook timelines aren’t just an illustration of how and why we connect…
I never thought of it like that. I like your ratio of 1 selfie per 20 posts.