But first, let me hate on selfies

SELFIE: A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website:

At least, that’s how ‘selfie’ appears in The Oxford English Dictionary. Because it is in the dictionary now. Though perhaps this definition is lacking. Maybe a more accurate definition would be:

SELFIE: Act of random or premeditated vanity committed by many, circa 2013. Picture(s) are taken of oneself and subsequently uploaded to a social media website. Act may be committed in order to gain ‘likes’ or display to virtual ‘friends’ a current activity (which may or may not be depicted in said picture) or activity previously partaken in (see also: Throw Back Thursday).

We get it; you’re at a place, doing stuff.

Although ‘selfie’ was only added to the dictionary in late 2013, the craze has been sweeping through social media sites for the past few years and is now clogging our newsfeeds and swamping Twitter (often accompanied by an essay of hashtags; personally, I will never not feel irritated whenever I see the hashtag #toomanyhashtags).

Among these hashtags, we can now find #belfie – that’s bum selfie, for those who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Kim Kardashian’s derrière plastered all over the internet and magazines. Furthermore, selfies have now reached a new level of bragging; we’re used to the ‘I just had lunch’ selfie and the ‘tough day at the gym’ selfie, but now Instagram has given us #aftersexselfie. I don’t mean to sound prudish, but inappropriate. Just, inappropriate. The selfie craze has spiralled out of control and quite frankly, I think it needs to stop.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a complete selfie-hater. They can be fun and light-hearted; they’re often an integral part of a drunken night out or a day spent with friends. To be clear, it is the ‘self’ part of ‘selfie’ that I have a problem with. Taking a picture of you AND your friends – perfectly okay, I think we can all be found guilty of that. The Cancer Research no make-up selfies – more than okay, raising over £8 million for charity in less than a week is by far the best thing selfies have ever done. And ever will do.

The problem is that, today we live in a vain and self-obsessed world that considers good looks to be synonymous with power, wealth and success. Everywhere we look; we are bombarded with images of tall, muscular, mahogany men and seemingly ‘perfect’ women. We have been conditioned to admire flawless, airbrushed images creating an ideal of what we should look like. I doubt I’m the first one to flick through a magazine or catalogue before clutching shamefully at my split ends and regretting the biscuits I dunked in my tea earlier.

Do your Facebook friends a favour

So, what is it that we are striving for when we pout and pick a filter? Are we trying to create our own flawless image of ourselves in order to achieve something? To gain friends or admirers? To combat our insecurities? Or to magnify them?

It may seem fun and harmless – if a little vain – but, much like a selfie, it seems that this fad is not as pretty and perfect as it first appears. Something ugly is lurking behind the selfie craze. Something that might prove that, no matter how flawless they might appear, the selfie might be one of the ugliest products of our generation.