Understanding the Reasons Why People Do Selfie Even Though It Has Negative Side Effects

Understanding The Reasons Why People Do Selfie Even Though It Has Negative Side Effects

A Research Paper Presented to

The English Resource Center

School of Multimedia Arts

Asia Pacific College

Magallanes, Makati

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements of the Course

ERESWRIT - Research Writing

Paolo Niccolo T. Hibaler

April 2014

_______________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1

Introduction

A. Background of the study

Selfies are very popular in today's generation. It's like everywhere you go there will always be people getting their camera phones and start projecting and have a selfie. A statistic shows that 70% of the Instagram users log in at least once a day and the number of selfies being posted in Instagram is 79 million photos and wherever these people are, its inevitable for them to take a selfie.

Jerry Saltz of vulture.com wrote an article entitled, "Art at Arm's length: A History of the selfie". In this article he stated that how the selfie changed the aspects of becoming socially interactive to everyone, your privacy and public behavior. He also stated how this new trend vastly differ from the self-portrait paintings when technology has not yet evolved.

Saltz said, "We live in the age of the selfie. A fast self-portrait, made with a smartphone’s camera and immediately distributed and inscribed into a network, is an instant visual communication of where we are, what we’re doing, who we think we are, and who we think is watching". (http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/history-of-the-selfie.html) Selfie got popular because of the evolution of technology and of course the famous actors and actresses do it too. In other words, everyone nowadays has a selfie

Era of selfie just suddenly emerges. Since Instagram was introduced back in 2010, the number of people got into taking photos increased, and of course there were some people who invent things and thus  the selfie was made. Now it is still popular because some people are still in to it and they don't get tired of doing it.

Julia Kligman of thetamnews.com wrote an article entitled, "Selfies emerge from the depths." In this article she stated that people who do selfies are actually not taking it just for the sake of having a photograph, but instead they do it for themselves only.

Kligman said, "If you’ve caught yourself taking selfies before, you can justify it by using the photo as a means of a mirror. Of course no one wants to walk around with messed up hair or something in their teeth, so if you haven’t been blessed by the presence of a mirror, snapping a picture could suffice as a makeshift reflection of your current state" (http://thetamnews.org/2012/04/selfies-emerge-from-the-depths/ ). The main reason why people do selfies is because they want to look good in the photograph,its like their own mirror, instead of just plainly fixing yourself first before going outside the house.

In order to take a selfie, you need a tool first. First of all, in order for you to take a photograph of yourself, you obviously need a camera, it can be any camera you want, but in today's generation camera phones are "in" nowadays because it's handy and you can easily post your selfie with just a click of a button.

John Paul Titlow wrote an article in readwrite.com entitled "#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie". In his article he stated that we are narcissistic people but with the help of the social media it just got worse now the social media is swarming with overly-narcissistic people.

Titlow said, "As it turns out, Instagram is a breeding ground for many people's most narcissistic tendencies. It's a reality that comes into sharp focus as soon as you step outside of your circle of friends and look at what everybody else is posting. Turns out that as a group, Instagrammers are a pretty self-absorbed bunch"(http://readwrite.com/2013/01/31/instagram-selfies-narcissism#awesm=~ozGMJU27uBk5Pm).  I guess we could say that social media has to be blamed for this selfie mayhem, but in some other point we were to be blamed too, because if people didn't get obsessed with it maybe social media wouldn't be full of selfies.

Now comes the downside of selfie. Selfie is not all about beauty and fame, it also has side effects along with it from the start you posted your first selfie in the social media. The first side effect of selfie is that many people get bashed or mocked in the social media, some people comment really hurtful things that would really make you look bad in the eyes of another person.

In an article entitled "Generation Me - The Downside of taking Selfies" by Chris Gearing of gearingup.com he stated that, people should really limit the photos they post in order to avoid being cyber bullied because many people misunderstand the photo and they speculate what kind of person you are and they spread it, which in fact is not true.

Gearing said, "Taking pictures of ourselves can be wonderful but only within certain limits. Creating an endless online photostream of yourself may appeal to some, but it can border on self-involved for the rest of the world. While we love to see occasional shots of you and your life, selfies can become a daily reminder of what you value (a.k.a. what you look like in the mirror)".(http://gearingup.com/_blog/Gearing_Up_Blog/post/generation_me_the_downsides_of_taking_selfies/)

 The key in avoiding being cyber bullied is you should learn how control yourself, learn about yourself, surround yourself with great people and don't let people define who you really are, that's your job.

There are many downsides in taking a selfie. In Rosa Silverman's article in telegraph.co.uk she said, "But when they fail to attract the desired attention or approval this can damage their self confidence, it is feared.". (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10261422/Selfie-photographs-trend-puts-children-at-risk-of-abuse.html) However, despite the fact that there are downsides in taking a selfie, the researcher observes that it is still popular these days and everyone still does it, even though some people get shamed for it just because they posted a picture of themselves, that's not mean that't who they really are, do not judge them immediately. Hence, selfie does not only make people beautiful and famous it can also destroy a person's image.

Having background knowledge about selfie, it may help the readers to understand more about people on why some still are doing selfies even though they are already being shamed and how will it affect those they shame on social media and learn how to regulate the selfie they post on the internet.

Instead of discussing the different of effects of selfie to the society, this study focuses mainly on why people do selfie even though it has negative side effects.

B. Statement of the problem

     The study aims to answer the question:

1. What are the reasons why people do selfie even though it has negative side effects?

C. Significance of the study

Students - This study will be ab;e to help the students today to understand how dangerous it is for them to post something that everyone will dislike. Students today are so updated in what's new today that they don't even think of the consequences that it can give to them once they get involved with it and sometimes they will regret it once the damage has been done to them.

Parents -  This study will be able to help the parents today in understanding why people do selfie even though they get shamed for it. The parents should really read this study because in some way they will be the ones telling their children in what to do and what no to do in social media because they are the only ones who can guide their children on what will be the consequences of their actions if they don't think about it thoroughly.

Society - This study will be able to help the society today because at some point they do selfies anyway and some times they misjudge people too, the reasons that will be presented in this study will be able to help them understand the effects they are giving to other people once they judge others immediately and of course to let them realize the effect they can get when they post selfies too much

Future researchers - The data that will be presented in this study will be a great help for the future researchers who will conduct a related study about selfie. Since there are so many studies that can be conducted about selfie, in some way this study can be their basis and broaden their ideas towards the study.

D. Scope and Delimitation

The focus of the study is to discuss the reasons why people do selfie even though it has negative side effects. The study will no longer discuss what society has to say about the people who do selfies . Hence, the study will focus mainly on selfie itself and the negative side effects of selfie . Due to time constraints, the data that will be presented in this study are from reliable sources that are valid and useful to the study on why people do selfie even though they get shamed for it, thus the researcher will no longer conduct his own experiment.

E. Materials and Methods

The researcher gathers information to find out about the views of people on people who do selfie to why they get to the point wherein they hurt somebody just because they posted a picture of themself. The materials used in the study are gathered from various reliable articles from the internet in order for the researcher to collect the views of other people on why people do selfie even though they get shamed for it.

F. Definition of terms Selfie - A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to social media website. (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/selfie)

     

 

Chapter 2 

Discussion

What are the reasons why people do selfie even though it has negative side effects?

I. Definition of a Selfie

Before even selfie got popular these days, taking a picture of yourself was already introduced to the people even though smartphones and Instagram were no less than a camera with a film and photo album. But now everything changed . People now get excited to use their smartphones just because they are going to take a selfie.

A very precise definition of selfie is presented by Kasmin Hernandez and Shikah Shah in her article in timeofindia.indiatimes.com entitled  "Selfies: All you need to know" they stated in their article that the selfies that people always post will not feel noticed if it wasn't for the people they know in their social media, thus in order for them to be noticed they must do selfies first.

Hernandez and Shah said that, "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam, and uploaded to a social media website, it could also describe our self-absorption with the social media - the need to put up our 'status' , 'state of mind' or self-taken and self-edited pictures in the virtual space"(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/Selfies-All-you-need-to-know/articleshow/27077635.cms?referral=PM). 

 It is very accurate that how this meaning is already defining what people look like when they do their selfie routine and how people think of them.

II. Negative Effects

A. Narcissism

Whenever we think of selfie, we immediately think of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in Greek Mythology, thus the term Narcissism was coined. When people started taking selfies and flooding the social media with it, people started naming them as narcissistic and telling other people that is selfie is a form of narcissism and the should stop doing it already.

In an article entitled "#Selfies: Narcissism or Self-Exploration" by Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D in psychologytoday.com. She discussed that selfie isn't new today it's been used for ages, it's just that because of technology, selfie finally got the spotlight and got noticed by everyone, and now almost everyone is whipping their smartphones in order to take a selfie

Rutledge said, "Selfies are pictures you take of yourself tagged with #selfie or just with #me. They are showing up all across social networks like Facebook or Instagram—often but not exclusively posted by women. As the numbers and frequency of selfies increase, the phenomenon has garnered attention. In our globally connected 24/7 world, anything that gets attention, gets talked about"(http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201304/selfies-narcissism-or-self-exploration).

Not only the women got in to selfie, men too, because of the frequent posting of selfie by women, men got curious and tried it out to know the feeling of having a selfie and being noticed by everyone.

B. Low Self-Esteem

As we all know in order for us to take a selfie we need a first a smartphone or camera and a heaping spoonful of confidence in order for us to have the courage to post our selfie in the social media face the people that can judge you easily just by staring at your selfie, they can easily tell what kind of person you are.

In an article that that was written by BritChick Paris in huffingtonpost.co.uk entitled

"Are Selfies a Sign of Low Self Esteem - The Greater the 'Pose' the Greater the Desire For Others' Attention". She stated in her article that selfie has already been part of everyone's daily routine, whether the person just woke up, eating breakfast or getting ready for work, there's no stopping them in taking selfies in everything they do and they don't care whether someone likes it or not for them what's important is that they are proud of their selfie.

Paris said, "A friend's daughter takes tens of selfies a day mainly from her bathroom. She is a sweet sensitive little girl and it is so obvious that she is seeking something from the mirror, from the photo that she is lacking deep down. There has never been so much pressure to be perfectly beautiful and add in the selfie to the mix it is a recipe for low self-confidence. Teens are taking more and more selfies and in the most ridiculous of circumstances, including grandparent's funeral"(http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/britchick-paris/selfies-low-selfesteem_b_4731451.html). 

It just shows that majority of the people who get really conscious and has really low self-confidence are the teenagers. In that stage they get to be more conscious about what they look in the outside because that's the stage where they tend to get a lot of peers and peer pressure they tend to get the feeling that they are being ignored just because of their appearance and they are scared of being alone, so for them to gain enough confidence they decided to do a selfie which in return may or may not boost their confidence at all.

C. Attention Seeking

Some people do selfies just for fun, it's not bad if you just posted 5-7 selfies in a day, things will only get out of hand once you post a selfie every minute in a day, from then on people will start thinking that you post these selfies just because you wanted to be noticed by everybody.

In an article written by Emma Fisher in feminspire.com entitled "The Rise of The Attention Whore" she said in her article that, stereo-typically speaking women are labeled as attention seeking just so that they would stop posting selfies that are truly annoying and disturbing for the other people.But let's generalize it, men too are guilty of being attention seeking in selfie, just like when they post too much of their toned muscles, that's attention seeking too, it's okay if you just want to see how worked hard for it, but a muscle selfie everyday is just wrong. It's not that what they do is already attention seeking, it's when it gets out of hand and getting exaggerated already that you do it just for the sake of likes that's when they are already attention seeking.

Fisher said, "While the internet can undoubtedly be triggering and has spawned some worrying trends, it has also increasingly provided a forum for girls and women to speak up about their experiences and share them with others, providing a supportive community at times when they may be feeling isolated. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to friends and family about mental health issues; for many young women, the anonymity of the internet provides a safe haven to speak out about their experiences"(http://feminspire.com/the-rise-of-the-attention-whore/). 

This quote is not only for women, it's for everybody who can't truly express themselves whether your young or an adult, a man or a woman. It's not really that bad to post a selfie, if you just want to be noticed, it is actually good for you that you are sociable in the social media, as long as you know what you post, you know that it won't hurt you or anybody else then it's fine to be noticed for once in a while. Everyone wants to be noticed anyway and you know that they also struggled the same way you did. Let's just minimize the exaggerated selfies because that's the reason why some people get called attention seeking.

III. Kinds of selfie

A. Gym Selfie

Today, many people started going to the gym to lose some calories and be a health buff. After an hour or less, look around the gym, if you spot someone standing in front of a big mirror and you thought he's just standing there doing nothing but once you take a closer look, you'll see him holding up his smartphone and taking a selfie. That's a gym selfie.

In an article entitled "Rise of the gym selfie" by Lou Heinrich in dailylife.com.au she stated that most of the people who go to the gym doesn't forget to take a selfie in front of the big mirror in the gym. Whenever they take a break for 30 minutes. There are two possible meanings why people do gym selfies: (a) It's either the one who took the selfie wants everyone to know how disciplined he has been since he was working out (b) or for some it's some sort of boasting to everyone how fit that person is, it's like telling other people that they are not physically fit and weak.

Heinrich said, "A smug gym selfie doubles as a visual brag then, declaring with false nonchalance, "I'm better than you." Unhealthy people are perceived as lazy and undisciplined, so by posting a photo at the gym we are sharing our moral worth"(http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-fitness/rise-of-the-gym-selfies-20130731-2qyju.html). 

In other words, some people interpret gym selfies are belittling them and they have no chance to achieve what the body that they see in the selfie, but for some it is a form of motivation for them to be more athletic for a change and be a health buff. Still the picture's meaning depends on what people interprets.

B. Belfie (Butt Selfie)

Obviously, women today are the most addicted when it comes to selfie. I think they've tried every single kind of selfie that the social media has to offer. But there's this one selfie that is really inappropriate and bothering. The Belfie or butt selfie. It started when Kim Kardashian posted this kind of selfie when she gave birth to her baby and now, everyone followed her footsteps.

An article entitled, "The Case Against Butt Selfies" Erin Vargo in acculturated.com, she stated that

the reason why women, mostly, got into butt selfies is that because of the influence of other people, specially the celebrities they look up to. They think that if they post a butt selfie just like the other celebrities, they would also be noticed too, but what they didn't know is that, yes people noticed them in the internet but in a way that they are disgusted and disrespected.

Vardo said, "And yet, the problem with butt selfies and all manner of obsession with the female backside is old as time: It’s the objectification of women. The preference for booties over brains is hardly progress. We need more female engineers. We need more female CEOs. We need more female Senators, rocket scientists, Nobel laureates, and humanitarians. Here’s the greatest part: It’s okay for women—even professional women—to find their maximum potential in the gluteal realm, too. But it should be in conjunction with other qualities"(http://acculturated.com/the-case-against-butt-selfies/).

The problem about these butt selfies is that people will now think that these people, specially women, that they are unprofessional and they have no direction in life, but in real life they are actually professionals, who just do butt selfies for fun and maybe for relieving stress. 

C. After Sex selfie

We all have our own private lives. We don't want anyone to know what we've been doing with our partner. But today, I really don't know why, but people started posting their selfies with their partners, in beds. And people started wondering why do they even post these kind of selfie anuway?

In an article entitled "Please Spare Us Your #AfterSexSelfies" by Kelly Faircloth in jezebel.com, she said that the people who these kinds of selfies are braggart, one who boasts their achievements in life that nobody cares. They want to tell people how perfect their life is, but what they don't know is that it has different effects on everybody who see those after sex selfies. And the people who see these posts, they will think that they are insensitive, obnoxious and behaving badly.

Faircloth said, "Let's start by pointing out what everyone should've learned in the first grade, which is that nobody likes a braggart. How nice for you that you indulged in a bit of afternoon delight, but it's really a bit much to disclose that to your entire circle of social media pals"

(http://jezebel.com/please-spare-us-your-aftersex-selfies-1556853854). 

First of all, I really don't know the significance in posting this kind of selfie, it's like your posting your private life and bragging it to everybody that you had a great time with your partner, which in fact nobody cares, nobody wants to know the whole story of your life, everybody just wants to see funny and inspiring pictures in Instagram not a diary about yourself. Always be sensitive of what you post.

IV. Motivation of the selfie

A. Gym selfie

There are many reasons why people do gym selfies, maybe they just want to tell everybody that they've already changed both physical and mental aspects, they also want to tell that they've worked hard to achieve what they are today and that the other people can do it too.

In an article in fitday.com written by Dani Russel entitled "Should You Take Selfies At The Gym?", she stated stated that, she,too, has many gym selfie because she was also conscious of her weight because of what she sees in the internet that people are going to the gym and the outcome is that they become physically and mentally fit. So that means, gym srlselfie is somewhat a chain reaction for everybody to get in to working out because they also want to have a gym selfie but in order for them to do that is they have to achieve a body that is worth taking a selfie.

Russel said, "The scale said I hadn't made any progress, but that mirror certainly did. That day, I went home and stood in front of a mirror, looking for that little muscle again, and I took a picture. From that day forward, I relied on my "selfies" to track my progress more accurately than my scale ever could"(http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/should-you-take-selfies-at-the-gym.html#b). 

In other words, some people use gym selfies as their motivation and a record of how they have changed and how hard they have worked but for some it's like they are boasting their bodies in the internet and make people bad for themselves because of how they lazy they are. But I think it's how you interpret the image, then they are the ones who give the meaning of it.

B. Belfie (Butt Selfie)

One thing that I noticed about belfie is that only girls post it, it would be weird and funny if a guy posted a butt seflie though, I think the reason why women do this selfie is that they think it's a competition for them. They re competing each other to see who has the most beautiful 'behind' or maybe its just for fun and of course the influence of the Hollywood stars.

In an article entitled "The complete History of The Butt Selfie" written by Molly McHugh in dailydot.com she stated that, all this butt selfie mayhem has come down to one little cause - the celebrities, but what they did has big effect on everyone, not to mention on the women particularly. With just a post of their behind, women all over the world quickly tried to do it too, and they succeeded, they got more likes than the usual selfie and to think that they got popular. For some they take this in a very serious way, to think that it slipped their minds to have butt implants just to say that they have a very firm and nice-looking behind, but everyone thinks that this is getting out of hand and already exaggerated to the point that you want to change a part of your body just to look good in one picture that no one will probably like.

McHugh said, "celebrities posting these types of photos encourages their fans to do the same: Despite the huge difference in followers, we have the same tools as the butt-selfie-posting famous—the same social platforms, the same filters or editing apps, the same camera phones, and the same (at least, at its most basic) body part"(http://www.dailydot.com/lol/butt-selfie-history/).  

This quote says it all. Women got motivated in to doing the butt selfie, they think that they need to beat the other women's belfies, well in fact they are all the same to everybody, one thing that only changed is how the woman posed and how big is her behind. I hope some women don't cross their mind to have an implant just to look better to other women in the social media. Always remember natural is always beautiful. 

C. After sex selfie

I think this kind of selfie is not a very good idea to be doing. because first of all, you're exploiting your own privacy, what if one night someone went in to your room do something to the both of you? Second is that it is not pleasing to the eyes for everyone to see that you've had sex with your partner, nobody cares about that, they care less about the lives of people and what they do privately.

In an article by Kelly Conniff in time.com entitled "#AfterSex: The Instagram Selfie We Don't Need" she stated that, maybe some those photos are not really an after sex selfie, maybe they also got jealous with other after sex selfies that they also did that kind of selfie but not really engaging in sex, they just want to show, maybe, that they've already scored, that they have reached their manhood and womanhood wherein maybe because of peers and those dares that are really ridiculous to do.

Conniff said, "Of course it’s not like there’s anything new about showing off your relationship bliss. After all, couples around the world have been posting cutsey photos and status updates referencing “the boy” and “the gf” for years. But in the era of the groupie (and the belfie and the lelfie and who even knows what else), the #AfterSex selfie is a way of pushing digital boundaries (and boasting) to a new level. Anyone who sees one of the better versions of these photos will realize how amazing you are, how fulfilled you are in life and love, and damn if you don’t look good in the process"(http://time.com/45464/aftersex-selfie-instagram-trend/). 

Now these quote really sums it all, they just want to document the after sex just to say that they have already gone to the next level of being boyfriend/girlfriend, but then again don't be so sure about things that you see in the internet, remember you don't see what they really do behind those computers, maybe, just like what I've said earlier, they are not really couples they just want to say that they have already matured and ready for a relationship, I think this kind of selfie really has to stop, not only you're lying about, if ever you're really lying, and you are boasting at the same time, nobody wants to know that you've matures through sex, nobody cares about it, remember what you do in the internet just to look mature or perfect will always be an immature thing to do. 

Chapter 3

Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations

Summary

This paper is an effort to find out why people do selfie even though it has negative side effects on them.

The research design used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein data from interviews, articles and studies found online were used to answer the research question posed. The research findings are the following:

1. The definition of selfie for everybody is that the one who takes it just wants to be noticed in the internet.

2. People who do selfie don't have a sense of control when ti comes to selfie. They think it's fun to post every minute f your face in the social media, what they don't know is that that's the reason why other people hate people who do selfies.

3. People give meaning to their pictures just by judging them once they look at them, then the people who see it will also believe that was also the meaning of the image.

4. Narcissism is one of the negative side effects of doing a selfie, people stereotyped it whenever they see a selfie, caught in the act doing a selfie in public, they immediately tell others how narcissistic that person is.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. Selfie has two effects in a person's self-esteem, (a) people may say horrible things about your picture and can destroy your personal image and thus it can highly affect your confidence, (b) for some it is a way of boosting their confidence.

2. People in the internet may define as an attention seeker just by saying that it's because of how many pictures you post in day.

3. There are many kinds of selfie; the most disturbing is the belfie (butt selfie) that women love to do whenever they feel lie someone's belittling their behind and it is because influences too.

4. Your love for your body is mainly the reason why gym selfie also got popular in the social media. They use selfie as a documentation of how they have changed but for some it is merely just boasting their through internet.

Recommendations

After coming up with the conclusions, the researcher hereby makes the following suggestions/recommendations:

1. Never ever post something that will destroy you and your image, it can highly affect you as a person.

2. Limit yourselves whenever you post a selfie, people will start hating you if you flood them with your face in their newsfeed.

3. Don't do something immature in the internet specially those ridiculous kinds of selfies that will not even make you popular for a bit and don't be influenced by other people too.

4. Think before you post. You'll never know that you've already hurt some one with one of your selfie. It can highly affect the psychological and emotional mind of an individual.

References

Jerry Saltz (2014, January 27).  Art at Arm’s Length: A History of the Selfie retrieved March 27,2014 from http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/history-of-the-selfie.html

Julia Kligman (2012, April 5). Selfie Emerges From The Depths retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://thetamnews.org/2012/04/selfies-emerge-from-the-depths/

John Paul Titlow (2013, Januray 31). #Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie retrieved Mrch 27, 2014 from http://readwrite.com/2013/01/31/instagram-selfies-narcissism#awesm=~oB9YJHnXs7pydi

Chris Gearing (2013, August 9). Generation Me - The Downside of Taking Selfies retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://gearingup.com/_blog/Gearing_Up_Blog/post/generation_me_the_downsides_of_taking_selfies/

Rosa Silverman (2013, August 23).  'Selfie' photographs trend 'puts children at risk of abuse' retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10261422/Selfie-photographs-trend-puts-children-at-risk-of-abuse.html

Oxford Dictionaries. Definition of Selfie retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/selfie

Kasmin Fernandes and Shikah Shah (2013, December 8). Selfies: All You Need To Know retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/Selfies-All-you-need-to-know/articleshow/27077635.cms?referral=PM

Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D (2013, April 18). #Selfies: Narcissism or Self-Exploration? retrieved April 6, 2014 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201304/selfies-narcissism-or-self-exploration

BriChick Paris (2014, February 5). Are Selfies a Sign of Low Self Esteem - The Greater the 'Pose' the Greater the Desire For Others' Attention retrieved April 6, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/britchick-paris/selfies-low-selfesteem_b_4731451.html

Emmy Fisher (2013, June 24). The Rise Of Attention Seeking Whore retrieved April 6, 2014 from http://feminspire.com/the-rise-of-the-attention-whore/ 

Lou Heinrich (2013, July 31). Rise of the gym selfies retrieved from April 9, 2014 from http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-fitness/rise-of-the-gym-selfies-20130731-2qyju.html

Erin Vargo (2014, March 25). The case against butt selfies retrieved from April 11, 2014 from http://acculturated.com/the-case-against-butt-selfies/

Kelly Faircloth (2014, February 4). Please spare us your #AfterSex selfies retrieved April 11, 2014 from http://jezebel.com/please-spare-us-your-aftersex-selfies-1556853854

Dani Russell. Should You Take Selfies At The Gym? retrieved April 11, 2014 from http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/should-you-take-selfies-at-the-gym.html#b

Molly McHugh (2014, January 8). The Complete Internet History Of The Butt Selfie retrieved April 11 2014 from http://www.dailydot.com/lol/butt-selfie-history/

Kelly Conniff (2014, April 1). #AfterSex: The Instagram Selfie We Don't Need retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://time.com/45464/aftersex-selfie-instagram-trend/