The transformation of visual representation into selfie
As social media began to take place in the focus of individuals ‘ daily lives, social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter began to be preferred by millions of users. People who use social media platforms are now widely sharing selfies. The act of taking selfies has not just been confined to innocent fun. This action even began to lead to addiction. We often began to hear examples of this, and this led to deadly dimensions. For example, Danny Bowman ,19, became so obsessed with taking the perfect selfie he tried to kill himself when he failed to do it. Or they lost their lives while many people took dangerous actions to take selfies (such as trying to take pictures off a cliff). Recent studies shows that teenagers, in particular young men, were at especially high risk from selfie-related deaths.
For this reason ‘no-selfie zones’ areas declared in many tourist areas around the world.
So why are we taking selfies? Is it an effort to show off, or a presentation that comes from a desire to be part of a group?
The Selfie is a symptom of consumerism and show society, but on the other hand it is a new ritual of postmodern iconism.
Social media is an indicator for individuals to say “I’m here” and to be in harmony with society. In the postmodern period we are in, we can adapt Descartes’s proposition as follows: “I Appear, then I exist.” So it’s an existential importance to have followers and make comments about them. Selfie has provided the individual with the opportunity to not only visually present his or her own representation, but also to create self-image, to be used as a tool of self-representation.
“Selfie” has a fast, improvised and generally casual expression: The primary purpose of taking and sharing “Selfie” is to be seen by other people on social networks, to display identity performance. The individual advertises himself by means of images that are specially chosen with the hope that they will be liked by his followers, but most importantly, the human being as a social being socializes in this way; it finds a place where it can express itself in the modern world.
In other words, the desire to be accepted by others, which exists in interpersonal relationships, is one of the features of self-construction, one of the ways of being subordinate and dependent on others. While the users pursues the ideal image of themself, they also seeks social approval.
One subject I want to talk about is selfie as consumption. Everything in the world is turned into a commodity and consumed. For selfie, dozens of Selfie Museums were established around the world. People pay and go to these museums with beautiful backgrounds. People take many selfie gadgets such as selfie sticks.
Now I want to ask you a question. Have you ever taken selfies when you are depressed? Or have you ever taken a selfie with the big pimple on your face?
We usually see selfies such as crazy poses of people having fun, women with make-up. It shows that people are more concerned with their image than with themselves or their self.
How has selfie changed society? Various forms of sociality, such as friendship, love, and business relationships require one to be marketable. This increases the importance of the reputation. This is why people are more concerned with how they look than developing their personality, manners and knowledge.
This drives them to always be perfect. But not always. Thus, hundreds of ‘fake’ selfies emerge.
- Satkın, M. B. , (2014). Transformation of visual representation of an individual from self portrait to selfie . Uluslararası Sanat ve Tasarım Kongresi (pp.180–185). İzmir, Turkey
- Şener, G., Özkoçak, Y.(2013). Sosyal Ağlarda Görünür Olmak: Facebook Fotoğraflarında Kendini Sunum Stratejileri.
- https://birikimdergisi.com/guncel/8220/selfie-narsisizm-kulturunun-bir-semptomu
Originally published at https://istinyenewmedia.wixsite.com on November 22, 2020.
Writer: Melissa Feza Katlar
