Selfies, not just for narcissists.

Posted by on Oct 27, 2016 in Blog | 0 comments

So. I’ve got an interest in selfies, as an expression by and for women, as a fun activity, and as a viable and positive subject for artworks.

So when someone I know is doing research on selfies and that research gets media coverage, thats certainly something interesting to me! Researcher Stephen Dann is a cool dude, and I assume Dr Toni Eagar must be also.

So. Here is a link to the article. Its titled: “Instagram selfies not just for narcissists, researchers say”
As an instagram user who posts selfies, well, if it wasn’t something I already knew perhaps it could be a relief, hahaha. As I noted in this blog post when I was reflecting on the Selfie related work of Michael Simms in my experience most selfies I see appear to be documentations of day to day life, including non picture-perfect stuff. The news article on the research seems to confirm this with Dr Toni Eagar saying “The most common kind of selfie was the picture that communicated everyday life with the person’s close friends and family.”Doing the very mundane stuff of life,” she said.”Going to school, going to work, eating lunch, those sorts of things.“”
I gotta say, as a young woman using social media, this matches my experience!

So. I’m going to put the bulk of the article in this post so that I can share and comment on it. Here we go:

Seven types of selfies were identified and spoken about in the article:

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1. The autobiography selfie

Dr Eagar said the most common kind of selfie was the picture that communicated everyday life with the person’s close friends and family.

“Doing the very mundane stuff of life,” she said.

“Going to school, going to work, eating lunch, those sorts of things.”

These kinds of “autobiographical” images made up 35 per cent of the images studied and documented all aspects of life from the mundane to special occasions such as weddings.

2. The travel diary selfie

This was the least-common kind of selfie, with only 6 per cent of the images falling into the category.

3. The propaganda selfie

Dr Eager said the propaganda selfie was the type most commonly associated with narcissism and vanity.

“They’re the ones where you get a lot of duck faces, you get a lot of most flattering angles,” she said.

Dr Eager also said these posts were accompanied by audience-building hashtags like “likeforlike” or “followforfollow”.

She said there was a common misconception that the majority of selfies fell under this category.

But according to their research, only about one in 10 selfies were used to promote an individual’s image or physical attractiveness.

4. The parody selfie

“In equal proportions of people actually participating in the trend there are people actually making fun of the trend,” Dr Eager said.

5. The romance selfie

While it may sound self-explanatory, Dr Eagar said the romance category, which was the second-most common kind, applied to people with and without significant others.

“We called this romance because you have your rom-coms where everyone’s together and then you have your tragic romances,” she said.

“You know, Romeo and Juliet or Brangelina.”

6. The self-help selfie

Similar to the propaganda selfie, the self-help image is used to promote a person’s knowledge in areas such as beauty, fitness or cooking.

7. The coffee table book selfie

Dr Eager said this kind of selfie was defined by a creative or “high-art” approach to the photo with a focus on picture manipulation.

She said on the whole, Instagram selfies were less about narcissism and more about sharing experiences with social groups online.

“Selfies are no different to other forms of communication that people have used through history, it’s just new technology and a new way of doing things,” she said.

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Okay, well, I’m so with Toni Eagar on the comment that selfies are no different to other forms of communication, no different than people have used throughout history. A++. I’m so here for it.

So. I have not posted any of my selfies on this website. Their aspect ratio doesn’t lend themselves very well to the portfolio format I use here – but I’ve been working on a selfie series. If you follow me on Instagram over at https://www.instagram.com/everafterartisanry than you’ll be familiar with some of this series, but, for those who aren’t, let me post a couple of them:

20160727_150003 20160804_135530 20160826_150939 20160828_15363620160829_040956

So its a series which shows a progression of my artworks as they appear in my ‘studio’ (a corner of my ensuite, complete with reflection of bath and with toilet roll holder in most shots.) The idea is to show the artist at work, the progression of the work, insights into the life of an artist, the constructed nature of femininity (in a positive way) and generically have a little fun.

So looking at my work and comparing it to the ‘types’ identified in the article… to some extent there’s an element of autobiographical selfie in my work, as I show the progression of my artworks and day to day working environment, but I don’t think they really fit into that type. Its a bit too constructed, too purposeful, too much… intent… to really fit the kinds of selfies that I’d describe that way.
Another sort that fits is the propaganda selfie. The article identifies that this is the type mostly associated with narcissism, and obviously that has a negative implication to it, but lets be real, I am -absolutely- trying to increase my followers and reach on instagram. Selfies are a marketing tool for me! Shamelessly and without doubt! Also, let me tell you, they sure seem to work. People respond quickly and well to my selfie work. :p  I absolutely fit into this category I feel.
I also feel I solidly fit into the final category of the coffee table book selfie. I think its pretty evident that what I’m going for here is a fine art approach to the selfie. Its definitely the note I’m trying to hit!

Let me know what you think of how I’m going with that, and also with what you think about the article on selfies generally. 🙂

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