Since the start of Myspace back in 2003, people across the map—mainly young adults— have found themselves stumbling upon a new territory of photography called “selfies” a reinvented self-portrait made capable through camera phones and social media.
Although selfies are the craze of the 21st century, it can be dated all the way back to 1914 with Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova. Renee Jaquez, a journalist for the Huffington Post, quotes the Duchess, who said, “I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling.”
According to AP, the word selfie has even been declared as the word of the year by 2013 Britain’s Oxford University Press. Nowadays, all phones include cameras and social media outlets have multiplied, ushering in the new age of selfies.
“People are always posting selfies on Facebook and Instagram, but I only like selfies when it is on snapchat,” said Kylie Murrey, a sophomore majoring in business from Utah. “Snapchat is so funny because you can just send weird pictures of yourself to your friends. I love it.”
The selfie has really evolved from its Myspace days noted Jeff Collins, a junior from California. He said, “I remember in high school all the girls, and a few guys, would take selfies in the bathroom in front of the mirror with duck faces and they were so cool.”
By the time Instagram came on the scene, the infamous selfie had matured from the “duckface” to the classy smile, or pensive gaze off into the distance. Jared Zimmerman, a senior in business from California, said, “My favorite selfie is when girls take pictures of themselves smiling and then write an inspirational caption below it.”
While Zimmerman likes the inspirational selfie, Steven Smith, a junior in exercise sports science from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is a lover of the accompanying hashtags. “My favorite selfies are the ones where people take a body shot in the mirror and hashtag a million things that all mean the same thing like, ‘#outfit of the day,’ and stuff like that.”
Tyler Merdoc a freshman from Oakdale, Calif., majoring in business has a different favorite selfie. Merdoc said, “I like when they act like they are taking a picture of their face but they really are showing off their butt—it just looks awkward [and] that makes it funny.”