feature // 14

  

Insensitive selfies

» What does the photo

. Chitwan Khosla
© Features Editor
| & features
@theotherpress.ca

 

«¢ Clelfie” was declared the
word of the year in 2013 by
the Oxford English Dictionary.
A self-portrait photograph,
the selfie is considered a trend
by the millennials. Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and other
such social platforms are
flooded with selfies of young
people. From Hollywood celebs
to school children, everyone
seems to be taking them.
Although such selfies garnered
a lot of popularity, they’ve also
raised questions about people’s
growing obsession with them.
Such concerns emerged recently
when people were found taking
selfies in front of the rubble and
remains of destroyed buildings
in the earthquake-hit Nepal.
Nepal was hit by a 7.9
magnitude earthquake on
April 25, leaving thousands
dead and many more homeless

It is not a matter about

: whether we should support

: or condemn these selfies

: and the people taking them.

: What matters is the time and

: the gravity of the situation

: which these people failed to

: understand. Perhaps their self-

: indulgence took over their sense

graphy phenomenon reveal?

: and devastated. In the time of

: such tragedy, while the country
: grieves, many were found

: clicking selfies in front of the

: debris of the fallen buildings

: and historic monuments. At

: a time and a place when every

: hand should be helping the

: lives of many, people were busy
: smiling in front of their cameras,
: posing. Similarly, few weeks ago,
: with the help of his selfie stick a
: teenager filmed his mother and
: his girlfriend violently fighting,

: and the video went viral on the

: Internet. He smiled through the
? whole encounter, which he could
: have stopped by intervening.

: In another such instance,

: a teen clicked a selfie at his

: grandmother’s funeral—which

: was condemned on the social

: media.

: of judgment and conscience.

: Honestly, every one of us is

: tempted to take a picture of

: ourselves alone or with our

: friends because of the super

: high-resolution cameras we

: have in our phones, but over the
: course of time, the selfie trend

: has turned into self-obsession.

: We click multiple shots and

: make different faces and poses to
: look our best in pictures. After a
: minimum of 10 shots, we upload
: the best one instantly with our

: friends through social media.

: According a study conducted

: by Ohio State University,

: this impulsivity of instantly

: sharing pics by men is sign of a

: psychopathic traits which also

: projects lack of empathy, as

: reported by DailyMail.co.uk.

Random clicks are very

? common and you can find

: people taking pictures of

: themselves at restaurants,

: classrooms, public washroom,
: gyms, and sometimes even at

: doctor’s visits. This behaviour
: clearly shows that the motive

: of clicking selfies has evolved

: less to capture memories and

: more to showcase yourself to

: the public. This in turn makes
: people more conscious of their
: looks.

DailyMail.co.uk also

reported that as pera survey,

? women spend as much an

: average of five hours and 36

: minutes every week taking

: selfies. The survey also indicated
: that as much as 22 per cent

: women out of the women who

: were surveyed said that the likes
: they get due to their selfies boost
: their confidence and they are

: motivated to take more selfies.

: Many also confessed that they

: delete their selfies soon if they

: don’t get many likes for them.

: The survey also revealed that

: women re-do their makeup, set

: their hair nicely, wear a flattering :
: outfit, and find an area with
: good lighting before taking
: selfies. All these revealings of the :
: survey, represent that taking a

: good selfie is a serious business. :
: It involves a lot of time and effort :
: sometimes and no doubt many
: compare the number of likes to
: measure their popularity.

So what does this really do

theotherpress.ca

Image from Thinkstock

: to our sense of empathy and

: judgment? Well, it all comes

: down to one main thing: self-

: indulgence. One becomes

: self-centred once they get

: habituated to taking so many

: selfies that they start ignoring

: the conditions around them, and
: even the feelings of the people in
: the vicinity.

There is nothing wrong with

: taking pictures of yourself, but

: we must not forget that it doesn’t
: have to be a part of our daily

: routine. It is more important to

: live in the moment than to worry
: about your looks and lighting.

: A confident person doesn’t rely

: on the popularity of a picture

: but rather the popularity of

: their personality. It is not only

insensitive, but also kind of

stupid to take selfies while
: people around you are in trouble

or are grieving. You would be

: looked upon as a selfish person
: despite your good intentions.

So next time you pick up your

: phone or camera for a selfie, look
: around to make sure you are not
: offending anyone.