Search results
Social media use has grown rapidly in recent years, with one of the most popular activities for young people being the taking, sharing, and browsing of digital self-photos, known as selfies.
Nov 3, 2017 · 1. Selfies Can Become an Addiction. Selfies can become addictive if people who constantly take selfies think that having likes is a measure of self-worth. Each time a new like is...
- A Brief History of Selfies: Why We Take Them
- The Science of Face Photos: Why We Love Looking at Others
- The Highs and Lows of Selfies on Social Media
- Selfies in Marketing: 5 Awesome Examples
- What’s Your Take on Selfies?
As early as the 15th century, according to Dr. Terri Apter, psychology lecturer at Cambridge University: So self-portraits are about self-image—how we define ourselves. They’re also a way to figure out who we are. The “looking-glass self” is a psychological concept that says that how we see ourselves doesn’t come from who we really are, but rather ...
We notice faces first
Human faces have always been particularly effective attention-grabbing mechanisms. Researcher Dr. Owen Churches, from the school of psychology at Flinders University in Adelaide, has studied the neuroscience of face perception for years: And social media is no exception: Face-tracking studies show that the profile picture or avatar is the first place the eye is drawn to on Facebook and other social media profiles. (Want advice on creating a stellar profile pic? We’ve got the science on that!)...
Faces can guide our gaze
Faces not only compel us, they can drive us to action. Online, we follow the eyes of the people we seeon screen. Looking directly into the camera can help make a direct connection with someone. Looking to the left or right will help guide the reader’s eyes in that direction. KISSmetrics has done a great job of explaining a bit about this reasearch:
Viewing faces creates empathy
A final tidbit about why we respond so well to photos of faces: They can help create empathyin us. A study of radiologists added photos of patients into the doctors records like so: The results showed that seeing photos of patients increased empathyamong doctors, and even improved the way they treated patients.
The high: They can improve self-esteem
It’s become somewhat common to think of those who post selfies as narcissistic or vain, but one great effect of selfies is that they can bolster self-esteem, particularly in women. In aTODAY/AOL body image survey, 41% of adult women said selfies and other flattering online photos make them “feel more confident (although 46% said that “overall, social media makes me feel more self-conscious about my appearance.”) For teenage girls, the results were even more empowering: 65% said seeing their s...
The low: They can harm relationships
Over-selfie-ing, however, can be a problem:Research has showed that sharing too many self photographs on social media could possibly damage weaker relationships. A UK study asked 508 Facebook usersto rank how close they felt to friends who also use Facebook. They then compared the answers for each person to how many selfies that person posted. They found that the more someone posted selfies, the lower they ranked on the intimacy scales of the participants. Said study author Dr. David Houghton:
The verdict? It’s all about healthy context
So are selfies great for us or bad for us? It all depends on how—and how often—we turn to them. A great middle ground can be found in Dr. Josie Howard, M.D.’s comments to the website Refinery29:
We know social media works great with visuals. We know we love taking photos of ourselves and we love viewing photos of others. So it’s a given that face photos and selfies can have a place in great marketing campaigns. Brands are harnessing the power of selfies in lots of different ways—from soliciting user-generated content to creating interactiv...
I’d love to know your thoughts on selfies: Is your phone filled with them, or do you eschew them altogether? Have you used selfies to share the news about a product or service, or participated in a campaign that solicited your image? As always, I welcome all your thoughts and ideas (and selfies!) in the comments.
Dec 19, 2017 · We all have a friend whose Instagram feed is filled with pictures of themselves. Selfies are so ingrained in our lives now that we don't really see them as any sort of issue. But according to two psychologists, snapping selfies all the time could have a negative impact on our mental health.
May 30, 2017 · During a National Portrait Gallery panel discussion on selfies, the BBC reported that University College London neuroscientist James Kilner explained, "we are able to take and retake pictures of...
- Alexa Tucker
Aug 23, 2020 · Concerns about finding your own identity and how you present yourself to other people loom large in young adulthood.
People also ask
Why are selfies so popular?
Why do people post too many selfies on social media?
Do face photos & selfies make a good marketing campaign?
How many photos do humans take a year?
Why do people post selfies?
Does image manipulation affect body image among young men?
Given how many images are uploaded to social media platforms every minute, researchers have begun to investigate the impact of these images on young people’s mental health, and particularly body image.
