Exospheric Vantage Point

The selfie.

Never mind Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary – almost any pronounceable string of letters can get a page on those platforms.  But this little overachieving term, a neophyte in our collective lexicon, recently earned inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).  In fact, selfie was the OED word of the year for 2013.  An amazing triumph for the little guy.

According to the OED, the selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.  Not content with this rather straightforward delineation of the term, the OED additionally includes a use example, as if a spelling bee contestant had asked the judge to use the word in a sentence:  occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself everyday isn’t necessary.  

Good to know an occasional selfie is a-ok with the linguists at OED.  And one would think them rather prude.

But enough of that. This is a scholarly reflection of the newest official member of the English language, not some sophomoric composition laced with double entendre.

Scholarly… because I ask – what of selfie social significance? What does it mean to the traditional institution of picture taking – that of the photographer and subject, one of each ilk, joined in photogenic matrimony?  One with a squinty eye and the other with a cheesy smile.  A biologically driven interrelationship between two humans that has evolved over the past two centuries.

Will selfie acceptance result in the crumbling of traditional photogenic society as we know it?  Does it not take two to tango in pixels?

To answer these questions, I examined the selfie within the context of differing social theories and philosophies.  As you might guess, the verdict is not clear.  Based on countless hours formulating surveys, conducting interviews, and researching published articles on the topic, I found that we can divide our views about the selfie into these major camps:

Social Conservatism:  to this fastened-in-time thinker, the selfie is clearly a detriment to society.  We are going to hell in a .jpg, says this typical fuddy-duddy.  I mean, has anyone ever seen a selfie of Rush Limbaugh?   Exactly.

Libertarianism:  Not surprisingly, the philosophy of individual liberty takes a positive view of the selfie.  “The government can keep their dirty little hands off my shutter release,” says this Ron Paul t-shirt wearing, Ayn Rand reading life of the party.

Pessimism:  The pessimist is typically against selfies because inevitably someone’s head is going to be cropped.

Liberalism:  Depends – as long as the camera was made with union labor and there’s representation of all genders, nationalities, and age groups in the photo.

Hedonism:  Very much pro-selfie, as it represents the photo-documentation of hedonism.  Think about it – most selfie subject backgrounds includes bars, clubs, and booze-fueled parties.  Meaning, has anyone ever taken a selfie at a funeral?

Pragmaticism:  I have an arm, I have a cell phone camera – enough said.

Darwinism:  The selfie is clearly why we developed an opposable thumb.  Prediction:  to allow for wide-angle shots, in approximately 20,000 years the human arm length will double as natural selection advances the selfie.

Communism:  No selfies, only staties.

Religious Fundamentalism:  seems it doesn’t matter whether you fervently follow the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, Dianetics… clearly, the selfie is a no-no.  A photograph is the product of a photographer and subject.  With the lines so blurred, how can the selfie produce more of either?

Populism:  Most felt uncomfortable with the elitist question… what of the 39 percent of the population that don’t own smartphones?

Fascism:  Seems people are not sure what to make of the selfie.  What ever the guy in charge says is best.

Voyeurism:  Not sure, they never took a photo of themselves.