Društvo| Filozofija

Selfie Indulgence

Chris Farmer RSS / 26.04.2014. u 13:34

Who needs friends?

Here I am eating breakfast. Here's me downtown. Here I am with my cat. Here's my cat (and me). Here I am at my best friend's wedding. Here I am getting tested for STDs. Here I am at a funeral. Here is me.

Me. Me. Me.

The word Selfie sounds fun. We spell it with a kicky "ie" on the end to make it feel cute. But it feels lonely.

Once upon a time we needed people to create the photographic record of our lives. We travelled and snapped. We gathered in groups and snapped. We navigated rites of passage, and someone made us all bunch up together for a group shot.

As I write this, sitting in a café on Nušićeva, I have been witness to four Selfies already. The Coffee Drinkers. The Window Shoppers. And the I-Am-Not-Sure-What-I Am-Doing-But-Here-is-My-Selfie-to-Prove-It.

The Selfie is then posted. And then we "check in" so people know where we are. And suddenly our existence in the world of Facebook (which is arguably the World with 1.3 billion users) is confirmed. If we are feeling particularly in need of validation, we then "like" our own Selfies.

Our Friends (capitalized to indicate that they are FB friends and therefore very important) like our Selfies and share their own Selfies.

The Selfie, as far as I can see, may be the nadir of our civilization and societal development. It represents our complete anti-socialization, celebrating isolation and autonomy from the rest of humanity. Worse still, Selfies are often taken in company (even if you cannot see who is around the Selfieist) thus underscoring separateness even in congregated situations.

Rather than being an iteration of narcissism, Selfies seem to indicate disconnectedness, on the one hand, and hyperconnectivity on the other. Disconnected with our surroundings and fully connected through the medium of the Internet.

I belong to a generation that used to have to request people to take a commemorative picture. We would sheepishly ask our friends or passing strangers to take a photo with a convenient Polaroid or 35mm reflex or Kodak Instamatic, line up and present cheesy smiles, and thank the photographer profusely. It was an act undertaken with a certain amount of reluctance since it made us look a little self-indulgent.

But I have by now a folder-load of Selfies filed away as well. My clever smartphone has a clever app to help me take a Selfie, as if it were a key feature of the camera.

I wonder, however, what all our Selfies say about us. I wonder if, at some point in the near future, our Selfies will be able to associate among themselves, make connections and draw together as a collective. We may be assembling with all of our self portraits the foundations of an entirely new digital life-form.

"Sorry, I cannot make it to the party. But my Selfie will be there !"

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Komentari (17)

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blogovatelj blogovatelj 14:19 26.04.2014

Šta je bolje?

Our Friends (capitalized to indicate that they are FB friends and therefore very important) like our Selfies and share their own Selfies.


Gledati selfije prijatelja na društvenim mrežama, ili gledati vesti?
Biram ovo prvo.
Nazirem ironiju u konstataciji da su prijatelji sa Fejsbuka bitni. Zašto ne bi bili?
Milutin Milošević Milutin Milošević 15:35 26.04.2014

Selfies

The word Selfie sounds fun. We spell it with a kicky "ie" on the end to make it feel cute. But it feels lonely.


I wrote a tweet another day:

If there were no selfies, many people's photos would be seen only by the closest family.

Showing ego and loneliness it produces is the soul of selfies
larisa_bg larisa_bg 19:07 26.04.2014

Re: Selfies

Pa ne znam zašto u toj meri poistovećujete selfi sa usamljenošću. Svako vreme ima svoje mode i svoje običaje. Meni to liči na ono klasično nostalgičarsko - "ranije je sve bilo bolje". Pa i nije sve bilo bolje, ali ljudi uglavnom vole tako da misle jer im je mrsko adaptiranje, učenje novih tehnologija, menjanje navika itd. A nekad naprosto misle da je to je takvo vajkanje za "starim dobrim vremenima" simpatično.
docsumann docsumann 19:17 26.04.2014

Re: Selfies

Pa i nije sve bilo bolje, ali ljudi uglavnom vole tako da misle jer im je mrsko adaptiranje, učenje novih tehnologija, menjanje navika itd.


grupni selfi


larisa_bg larisa_bg 19:24 26.04.2014

Re: Selfies

docsumann
Pa i nije sve bilo bolje, ali ljudi uglavnom vole tako da misle jer im je mrsko adaptiranje, učenje novih tehnologija, menjanje navika itd.


grupni selfi





Chris Farmer Chris Farmer 20:07 26.04.2014

Re: Selfies

There is no nostalgic feeling here for any good old days but simply a look at how much we are obsessed with photographing ourselves. And you cannot deny that we are - the evidence is everywhere.

|

(Selfie smilie!)
sachmo sachmo 23:28 26.04.2014

Re: Selfies

docsumann
Pa i nije sve bilo bolje, ali ljudi uglavnom vole tako da misle jer im je mrsko adaptiranje, učenje novih tehnologija, menjanje navika itd.


grupni selfi




Ulepsa mi vece i dan...i nedelju itd.
vladimir petrovic vladimir petrovic 16:03 26.04.2014

Le selfie est à la mode

We are not late in giving selfie a Serbian name.
It is: SVOJKO.

(Svoj is supposed to be Self, and letters ko are often used as endings in masculine nouns).

Milutin Milošević Milutin Milošević 17:43 26.04.2014

Re: Le selfie est à la mode

SVOJKO

If women make it, then it should be "svojka"; for children "svojče".

Croats already invented "svojić".

Knowing what it really is, maybe we can agree on "samoljub" (samo = self in certain context, "ljub" means kiss).
mlekac mlekac 16:57 26.04.2014

Fashion is fashion

And endless treasure chest full of reasons for a good laugh for future generations.

just seeing how my kids react to photos from my youth, how amused they are by fashion of that time, I can just imagine what will some future generations say about today's selfies.

It will probably be something along lines: "OMG! What did you think about when you went in public in THAT! And you even took a selfie?!"

So, let them enjoy it while it lasts. Future will have last laugh.

a_jovicic a_jovicic 20:37 26.04.2014

Re: Fashion is fashion

mlekac
It will probably be something along lines: "OMG! What did you think about when you went in public in THAT! And you even took a selfie?!"

Not to mention that before, you had your photos "protected" by photo-album. You can always lock it into drawer ... many people today don't pay attention that Internet cannot "suffer" from Alzheimer's. Once recorded, you'll never know when and where it will surface ... and photos are not only your property ... but maybe people desperately wants to be simulacrums of movie stars ... It can be OK if you are prepared for such life but what if you are not aware of pitfalls?!?


EDIT: ... and many don't think about own kids and their lives when photos taken as selfie (or just as publicly available regular one) in their early life come into hands of their friends 16-20 (or more) years later ... so "selfie-generation" will produce "parents hating-generation" ... I'm pretty sure that humankind won't change drastically in next decade or two and accept that there are no secrets between people.
docsumann docsumann 17:18 26.04.2014

selfie

sounds like euphemism for jerk off
Milutin Milošević Milutin Milošević 21:04 26.04.2014

Offer

I offered one girl to make her selfie.

It didn't work
zarebor50plus zarebor50plus 22:00 26.04.2014

Self(ie)shniess

Congrats for this blog and an observation if I may - you must be between forties and fifties (this, for the sake of clearence, refers to your age).

I am not implying you're too conservative or worse, outdated (almost everyone's worst fear is to be called "outdated"- on the contrary, I agree with you, but there is nothing you, me or anyone can do about this, it's just the way life is (of course if that is life) made today. It is just the progress (which might as well be capitalized), so in theory, we're progressing, although no one knows in which direction.

I'd suggest to keep up with the words: no retreat, no surrender.....It's good to have you here.
tasadebeli tasadebeli 09:36 27.04.2014

Психа + мода?



Самозадовољна, самозаљубљена и самодовољна цивилизација се задовољава самом собом?



"Druge ne primjećujem
Ni u prolazu
Sebe uvijek pozdravljam
U ogledalu"













Можда, када је Ја-унутра празно и нема ничега у њему, чак ни препознавања сопствених осећања, онда да се барем позабавимо оним Ја-споља?

Да дамо доказ самом себи да уопште постојимо?

Не знам... Можда је то у питању...



П.С. -

Rose Castorini: "I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die, just like everybody else."

Cosmo Castorini: "Thank you, Rose."

looping looping 10:09 27.04.2014

1

It all started with a selfie.


Jelena Pavlović Jelena Pavlović 19:05 27.04.2014

Re: 1

And on the group selfie above, only our president is out of it. And he is so composed, almost solemn. His facial muscles are so relaxed-he is almost drooling

Arhiva

   

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