The good, the bad, the selfie. There are positives and negatives when talking about the infamous selfie. The ‘selfie’ has shaken the world in the past few years of our life. We are bombarded by the constant images of an individuals glamorising themselves on social media through the tiny lense on their mobile phone. For me ‘selfies’ can be great to capture a quick moment with friends, family or random strangers… but thats about all I like about this idea of taking a ‘selfie’, because for the most part, ‘selfies’ are just that, taking a photo ones self! I’m not saying that all ‘selfies’ are bad, but I think that on the whole the connotations of vanity and narcissism that is associated to this term is something that has put me off from participating in this social phenomenon.

Reading the BBC article about ‘The rise of the selfie’ was interesting, to say the least, however the final remarks about how to take the perfect selfie made me question the validity of the authors main points in the article. Deep down, I really dislike the use of the word perfect. Because, what is perfect? Everyone and everything has its flaws, and even if someone considers something perfect, another individual across the room could suggest otherwise. The word perfect is subjective, however it is thrown around in the modern day as if everyone should perceive something in the same, homogenous way. To describe a ‘selfie’ as perfect, just perpetuates that idea of the growing narcissistic traits that are present in individuals throughout all cultures in modern society. The idea of having a ‘good side’ suggests that every individual has a ‘bad side’ and does that not mean that we are all imperfect, yet there I was reading about how to take the ‘perfect selfie’.

‘Selfies’ are great in some circumstances however it is this concept that we must craft the perfect image of ourselves to present to our online following that really lets this craze down for me. I believe that we shouldn’t be expected to hide our imperfections and treat them as if they are unique to only ourselves, because in reality we all have faults and that is one of the only things that should be treated as universal idea . Perhaps the world would be more comfortable if we celebrated all the flaws that embody the nuances of human life.