Interactive History: The Selfie

In 2021, the proliferation of the selfie has become so commonplace on social media platforms such as Instagram that the image itself retains few of its original connotations: narcissistic, attention-seeking, desperate for validation. While these attributes may still be present in one’s choosing to capture and post a selfie, the selfie has become ubiquitous as to now be a readily accepted form of social content, so much so that even the term “selfie” is practically outdated.

A Selfie: The Process of Self-Authorship

For my selfie, I wanted to incorporate the technologies and ideologies apart from which a selfie created for public consumption cannot exist.

1. I chose to take my selfie in a mirror, rather than holding the camera (phone) away from me to represent two things: the unhidden nature of the selfie (calling attention to itself as self-constructed and performed), and to highlight the presence of the phone itself, as smart phones have evolved the process of the selfie via the self-timer, the ability to see one’s image in the screen prior to taking the photo, and how certain photo-editing tools only exist through smart phone apps.

2. I layered three images of myself to represent my constant uncertainty when taking a selfie, and the questions I ask myself as a result: Which angle is most flattering? Should I look at the camera lens or at myself within the screen? How does this pose make me come across to others? Should I look casual or sincere? When taking a selfie, I can never take just one and be satisfied.

3. I added a filter and this text in an iPhone editing app (PREQUEL) to draw attention to not only the process of editing, but editing that takes place on one’s phone and from apps outside of the traditional filters provided by Instagram (which also have become practically outdated).

4. I chose this text for two reasons. 1) The style of this particular text signifies a nostalgic romanticism by mimicking film subtitles; this nostalgic romanticism (in many cases hearkening to the 90s and cultural styles of Y2K) is currently a popular aesthetic to apply to social media content - to use such an aesthetic signifies a user’s “in the know.” 2) I selected this phrase because it sums up the ideology behind the selfie: to post a selfie, it is usually imperative that the resulting image and any associated ideas (caption) convey a sense of blasé art, as if the person taking, editing, and posting the selfie really could not care less if anyone sees, likes, or comments on the photo, when the reality is that the very act of posting a selfie for public consumption and judgement is inseparable from caring what others think. To post is to care; it implies a need for something that can only be fulfilled through a public act and the opinion of others.

In trying to find an example of digital self-authorship, I felt it was actually more difficult to not find an example of self-authorship. Self-authoring, or “building a brand” around one’s own personality (an act of commodifying the self to be marketable to a mass audience) is, to me, the very nature of how people use social media (particularly now as being an “influencer” has become a lucrative and viable career option).

As an example, I selected a video by YouTuber Emma Chamberlin (who is herself a full-time vlogger). Chamberlin’s “brand” is to film and publish videos of herself which appear down-to-earth and even banal in the events they portray: putting groceries away, sketching at her kitchen table, opening the trunk of her car, etc. However, each filmed act (and subsequent editing) is highly calculated in order to give viewers a specific impression of Chamberlin herself.