“What’s Walmart? Do they sell like wall stuff?”

~ Paris Hilton ~

Selfie nation is running wild.

In this self centered world of “Look at Me,” it seems 93 million selfies are posted to social media on a daily basis. Further, 10 of these narcissistic images are posted to Instagram every 10 seconds. For old school folks this equates to 2,583,333 rolls of film being processed on a daily basis.

If we take things a step further, a Google search for “Instagram Famous” results in 945,000,000 hits. Seriously? Everything from ‘How to become Instagram Famous In 5 Easy Steps’ to YouTube videos promising overnight fame are available for consumption. There’s even discussion of apps designed to mimic plastic surgery results just in case your natural results aren’t up to par.

Kids these days are more interested in becoming famous than having a career. Whatever happened to when I grow up I want to be?… fill in the blank… a doctor, lawyer, accountant, engineer… oh hell… I’ll even accept photographer! Maybe Andy Warhol was right back in 1968 when he said “In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes.” He was obviously a man ahead of his time.

It seems the word Selfie came about in 2002 when an Australian photographer coined the term. It is now so embedded in our vernacular that Oxford dictionary named it "Word of the Year" in 2013. Depending on your perspective, this either ushered in a new era or ended the world as we know it.

I tend to think the vast majority of selfies fall into two categories these days: Narcissistic or playful with some level of artistic merit. The Influencer generation certainly falls into the former while the latter is more to my liking. Humorous and entertaining images.. think Ellen Degeneres group image at the Oscars… can be pretty special. Could I be softening a bit and joining the fray with this last statement? Nope. I’ll readily admit, I do consider some Instagram folks brilliant in their originality. For example, the #FollowMeTo project is tremendous and full of splendid creativity. Murad & Nataly Osmann travel the world together and simply show the scene from the vantage point of holding hands. Nataly leads with her arm behind her while Murad holds her hand and photographs the gorgeous scenery ahead of them. If you haven’t seen any of their posts, they’re breathtaking and worth a look. It's a great project from start to finish.  

Earlier this year, Inc ran an article entitled “Taking Selfies Destroys Your Confidence.” It seems every 3rd picture taken by an 18-24 year old is a selfie. Most are quickly posted to social media and then within a short time frame depression and/or anxiety may kick in when a post isn’t favorably received.

You have to wonder if this is all due to social media and the ignorance of the masses? I’d love to see photographic statistics from 1980 or 1990. Before the popularity contest began and the word Influencer even existed, how many people took selfies and how often?

I’ll admit to setting up a tripod and using a self timer in days of old to get a group of us hikers in one frame. I can even recall wedging a small camera between tree branches while skiing in Colorado to capture a few friends sharing a fond moment. Could this be construed as vanity 1990’s style? I guess. But, I believe there’s one monumental difference: We didn’t look to share the picture with complete strangers. Far from it. We were simply looking to capture a Kodak moment to share with one another. A keep sake of sorts that would produce smiles years down the road.

Until next time.

Cheers…