...Response Paper Why Selfies Matter Alexandra Sifferlin Selfies are becoming a massive trend in social media and Sifferlin (2013) provides an in-depth analysis of the ever-increasing vogue. Selfies are primarily trade-marked as a narcissistic practice and is merely an extension of self-absorption. Although some researchers beg to differ and defines selfies as a mean of self-exploration. Dr. Letamendi (as cited in Sifferlin, 2013), said that selfies allow people to convey messages and depict emotions. Sifferlin also brought the idea of over-analyzing the whole thing by citing Dr. Rutledge. Dr. Rutledge argues that selfies existed from a long time but is becoming more prevalent because of the advancement and easily accessibility of technology. Although Rutledge believes that it is important to know the limits and consequences of selfies as some may unwillingly send rather suggestive and indulgent selfies. She said that it is important for parents to understand the verge of propriety as each teen is unique. Furthermore Sifferlin also introduced selfies as a tool for therapist to use to gain entrance to deeper adolescent issues. She also talked about the peer pressure effect of selfies where one is influenced by seeing other’s selfies on social media. To conclude, Sifferlin says that selfies are definitely worth studying about as it has taken a place in the massively influential social media. The article was meant for parents, psychologists, therapists, guardians and even teens...
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...Introduction: Flash of Facts Only those living under a rock will be wondering what ‘selfie’ means. It is essentially a photograph of oneself taken by them self. It’s a simple trend that has infiltrated almost every corner of the social media world: people are holding their smart phone out at arm’s length, making a variety of faces—from the classic smile or serious face, to the more comedic duck face or sticking out one’s tongue– snapping a photo and then uploading it to social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. In November 2013, the word "selfie" was announced as being the "word of the year" by the Oxford English Dictionary. The appeal of selfies comes from how simple they are to create and share, and the control they give self-photographers over how they present themselves. So what is the hue and cry about this apparently harmless activity of clicking one’s own pictures? This is where an ancient Greek mythology helps us in understanding the etymology of the word ‘narcissist’ and the psychological state of a narcissist. It centres on a very handsome young man called Narcissus. So attractive was this man that all the girls fell in love with him. He was aware of his charms and this made him arrogant and proud. Despite the efforts of the ladies to win his affections he ignored their overtures. One day as Narcissus was walking through the forest he stumbled upon a clear pool of water. As he knelt to drink - for he was very thirsty- the loveliest sight that...
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...People with high self-esteem scored a mean of 3.30 (Neutral) (SD = 1.36) whereas people with low self-esteem scored a mean of 3.54 (Important) (SD = 1.2). A table of the means and standard deviations of each question can be found below (Table 1). Another significant result is that people with low self-esteem take more selfies in public places than people with high self-esteem [M = 2.37 (SD = 1.09) compared to M = 2.04 (SD = 1.15)]. From the results, it shows that people with low self-esteem care less than people with high self-esteem if their selfie receives very few ‘likes’ on Instagram. 18 (51.4%) people with low self-esteem said they would not care if their selfie did not enough ‘likes’, compared to just 12 (26.1%) people with high self-esteem. It also shows that people with high self-esteem regard ‘likes’ on Facebook of a higher importance than people with low self-esteem [16 (34.8%) compared to 11 (31.4%)]. A full table of the individual results can be found in Appendix...
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...The “Perfect” Body For years people have played the “blame game” with media and its effects on society. It has been questioned whether the media helps or hurts more in its overall impacts. The multimedia sources consist of magazines, advertisements, TV shows, and social pages such as Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, and Facebook, all in which society seems to be addicted to. The real question is, is having all of these sources of media positively or negatively affecting society? Some people blame the media for harming society by causing eating disorders and a low self esteem. On the other hand, many others believe that it helps society in several ways such as keeping people physically fit and boosting self confidence by posting selfies. While...
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...were going to get the opportunity of seeing the architecture that has been there since the time of the Mughals. All of us had expected that the market will be small, and all the things would be moving in slow motion, in short all us thought that we will be taking a journey to the past. However, we were all in for a surprise. Upon reaching the place, we could not rap our heads around the speed at which things were happening. The notion of it being a small market went out of our heads, after walking miles after miles but not being able to see the end of the line shops that surrounded us. The hustle and bustle of the market took us by a surprise. But upon getting to terms with everything we were able to take the interviews, along with some selfies and were able to complete the assignment that we had been sent to do. We first visited a toy shop, which was on the outskirts of the Azam market. The toy shop belonged to Mr. Aurangzeb, who claimed to be in the market for over 5 years. He told us that he had started with a small shop and through his hard work and immaculate selling skills was able to expand his business to a larger scale. Upon being asked about the supplier, he told us that most of his products were made locally in warehouses which were also located within the same market. He said that he did not own the warehouse, but had very good terms with the manufacturer of the toys. We also asked him, how often he visited that warehouse. He said that he usually visited the place...
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...know you are pulling off the road.” At just half an hour away to my grandma’s house I caught my sister taking selfies on the ipad. Me bored out of my mind i was enjoying the view of Texas. It was beautiful. All the open land, farms with lots of animals,and a lot of roadkill. we finally got to her house at five o’ clock at night. We finally get to rest for a week, but by the end we have to drive back. This time with two cars,which means it will be less crowded. Our grandma took me and my sister to a lot of places. I learned to ride a horse from one of her friend’s. I learned new dishes to cook from her. Her other two grandkids were really crazy and wild.one is named Shanna we call her Nana for short. the other one is named Shabaz. They are both Samoan. We call our grandma “Tutu” it means “grandma” in Samoan. Then my grandma took me and my mom to go get a manicure and a pedicure. The week ended so fast, we were having so much fun. it was time for us to leave again on the eighteen hour drive. Texas wasn’t what I expected. I thought it would be hot and just dirt everywhere. It was green and cloudy with a lot of bridges and open land. My family was planning on moving to Texas before this whole trip. I would like to move there, but I would miss Brawley, where most of my family and friends live. I hated the drive, but Texas was really worth it. ...
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...unknowingly isolating ourselves every time we pull out our phone and direct our attention to internet versus the person who is right in front of you. Why we do this? Is it to see how many likes you can get, or to help prove how cool you are? I don't think anybody really has the answer. Im not even sure we know why we post selfies or pictures of our food. This mentality of ‘everyone needs to know how awesome my life is and what I'm doing at all times’, is especially popular among my fellow millennials. We have become obsessed with capturing every moment to share on the internet instead of living in the moment and making memories worth sharing. Because one picture with an awesome story is a million times more valuable than twenty pictures of the same thing, and no real story to...
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...Office”, whilst also appearing in episodes herself. From here, the book takes a turn and is no longer about her working life and career. She begins talking about her romantic encounters, or lack there of, “Don’t you need to know some more about a guy than an evening’s night worth of conversation at a bar to make sex appealing?” Kaling tells her views on one night stands before branching off into a list on how easy guys get to live their life. Whilst Kaling may seem like the funny, witty, and clever girl she portrays in the majority of her book and in real life, she has a side to her that can be offensive. She has a chapter in her book titled “Jewish Guys” and starts it with a disclaimer that all her best friends are Jewish and that that should give her a pass on being offensive-it doesn’t. She also goes on in another chapter of her book stating that she is a “gay icon” like Lady Gaga and that “tran*y’s” that stood by her old apartment would shout “Hey girl!” at her every day. Why does she need to phrase things so awfully? After her section on men and boys, she quickly changes gears again and begins talking about how people want you to dress when you’re skinny versus when you’re not and how many selfies she has taken on her Blackberry phone. She includes various pictures along with each section, some from her childhood and the majority from her selfie stash. The ending of the book is rather anti-climactic, she has strict instructions for her funeral along with a eulogy written...
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...used to describe how your body is positioned when you're sitting, standing and lying down. In an intrusive definition, researchers cited in “Keep Your Head Up; “Text Next’ Takes a Toll on the Spine, good posture is “ears aligned with the shoulders and the ‘angel wings,’ or the shoulder blades, retracted.” (Sullivan 9). While poor posture, quoted from Dr. Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, actually adds pressure to the spine. The increased weight makes “the cranium become heaver the more you bend your neck.” (Firger 3). Essentially, unnatural positioning of your neck puts you at a higher risk of spinal injury. Millions of people spend hours on their phones doing simple tasks like taking selfies, surfing the net, and texting. With people spending at least “2 to 4 hours each day with their neck bent’’ (Firger 2). in an unnatural angle, they are without knowing are putting extra pressure on their spine and consequentially, pulling it out of alignment. A study done by Dr. Hansraj, also revealed “bending your head at a 60 degree angle to get a...
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...friendships is not a life worth living. In so many words, a life without friendships can be lonely and one can become depressed without it. My friends encourage me when I am sad, keep me sane in day to day life, entertain me when I am lonely, and they listen when I have problems. There are a variety of friendships in my life: acquaintances, fun friends and confidants. Though some might only consider those they truly trust friends, it is a little different for me. My acquaintances are the people who I work with, my neighbors, and the people I go to school with. This group of friends is a part of my day to day living, and helps keep me sane. Regardless if I am having a good day or a bad day, they are there to change the route of my mood. There are many things we do together, we have casual conversations about work, our families, shopping or just enjoy a simple lunch together. These basic conversations help me take my mind off the many stressful things that may burden my day. This type of friendship has helped me grow as a person and taught me how to manage my day to day social life. I keep my life very simple with my acquaintances, not too personal, but close enough to maintain an ongoing relationship with them. The fun friends in my life are my going out for the night group of friends. This is the group of friends I make dinner plans with, go dancing with or even catch a movie together. I release steam, have great laughs and take many selfies! They are always available...
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...significant other would view my content. I craved to be connected to this individual but I did not feel comfortable personally reaching out. Snapchat allowed me to channel my relationship with this individual in a more empowering fashion. He could see through passive media posts that I was functioning and enjoying life, however, I did not have to personally connect with him online or in-person. I never realized how much my usage of Snapchat was surrounding this single user and how badly I yearned to feel noticed. When speaking with friends about this, they confirmed my results and agreed that they also post in an effort to subtly reach out in hopes a specific person will see it. The content of my stories often included videos of friends or selfies of myself. Many social media platform share similar features but audiences play a huge...
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...we only live 11 houses away. At school, we hang with our friends Brock Lee, Tom Ato, Khali Flower and Ben Nanas, we have similar pastimes and they think we’re really cool and humorous as well. We play basketball and we go skateboarding, we’re even the most academic excelling students in our grade. Most of all, they understand the way we feel, Brock has ADHD, Tom has autism, Ben has Tourette’s and Khali is dyslexic. But to the ‘Youngbloods’ we’re known as the ‘Special Squad’. The ‘Youngbloods’ are a group of surly tormenters. These misfits include Ross Berry, Joe Kerr, Kara Tay, Dez Pacito, but Dez is the worst. We know the ‘Youngbloods’ persecute us because of our disabilities. They think we’re weak and vulnerable, but our friends are worth more than the ‘Youngbloods’ combined. So, school life isn’t that great when you have a gang of tormenters on your back more than six hours a day. In the hallways, there’s at least one of the “Youngbloods” we can rely on to either, barge us into a locker or throw our equipment to the ground or hurl rude, stupid remarks. So, there we were in class, and we were our brainy, OCD personality as we are every time we’re at school. We were colour coordinating our pencils while our teacher, Ms. Sing, was explaining an assessment. Out of nowhere, a note hurtled towards us and hits our eye. We opened up the note and it said: ‘You should kill yourself, it’s one less personality that we have to deal with!’. It was obvious who did this. It was Dez....
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...Affirmation from Social Networks How many of us have had a meal with someone you haven’t seen in forever and, as you are talking, your friend keeps checking their phone? I am going to say that many of us have been in this scenario and that, for most of us, it was pretty frustrating. On the other hand, what if you have been that friend? What are your motivations for constantly posting a selfie or refreshing your news feed or letting the world know where you are by checking in? I think that part of your reasoning might be that you are looking for affirmation. I propose that we have an addiction to affirmation and that society has a problem with getting their affirmation from social networks. People have been receiving affirmation for years. It can be and is what makes some people feel special. What is affirmation? Google defines it as emotional support or encouragement. Merriam Webster defines it as a positive assertion which is to say something that is true in a confident way. I think everyone in some form or fashion is looking for affirmation. Individuals in society have been seeking and receiving affirmation for years. If you are feeling depressed or just down your spirit can be lifted by words of affirmation that others have sent you. Many use social networks to receive their words of affirmation. The term social networks covers a lot. It includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and so many more. Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004 and was first...
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...“therapists said increasing numbers of youngsters, some as young as 12, were suffering self-esteem issue, stress and depression after they had become addicted to Facebook and started to measure their self-worth by the success of their online profile, including their ‘likes' and friend tallies.”(Donaghey 25) Even though this source primarily focuses on Facebook addiction being a problem it helps the main topic in a way. It shows that young kids are more likely to get depressed when on social media; they are more likely to have self-esteem issues. Although it isn’t exactly eating disorders, lack of self-esteem and happiness can lead to them. The fact that the source is from Australia helps because it shows that not only does this phenomenon happen in United States but also in other parts of the world. The world primarily runs on technology now and although it has many positive things to offer there are also negatives. The Internet allows people to connect and communicate with others, but too much of it starts to affect everyday lives. Some people come to the point where they can’t live without social media usage everyday. Seeing skinny celebrities, crazy online diets, and skinny models constantly start messing with the ideal boy image someone has in their head. “Thigh-gap Selfies May Lead to Eating Disorders.” LexisNexis. N.p., 4 July 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. Thigh gaps are the new epidemic going on, and this is what caused the main reasoning of my research. I saw this was becoming...
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...that make us question what a spunky, colorful, and fun person she was. She has always been apart of our lives. Ever since back in the 90’s when she would “Bring Out the Dancing Lobsters”, she has always made us laugh with her skit-type comedy show, “The Amanda Show”. As she grew up she still managed to keep us laughing with her hit T.V. show, “What a Girl Wants” (“Saga”). She then landed movie roles in “Hairspray” and “Easy A” (“Bynes”). Amanda has been a part of our lives for a long time, and who we know as a sweet and innocent girl has completely changed. We all know that our childhood actors and actresses usually fall in a spring of events. Amanda has lost that squeaky clean image because of many events including tweeting half naked selfies of herself, and calling celebrities Drake, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna ugly (“Saga”). Amanda has also had many run ins with the police. She has gotten her car impounded for driving with a suspended license on September 16, and was sentenced three years on probation (“Timeline”). That was not the only one, there are many more where that came from. We all know that Amanda is in some type of phase, but what if it’s not a phase? Amanda suffers from bipolar disorder. She tweeted about her condition and admitted to us that it was true, she also told us that she was seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication for her disorder. In order to get help Amanda was admitted to a psychiatric facility, she was released on October 30. Sadly that does not mean...
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