Is Taking Selfies a Positive or a Negative Activity?
Is Taking Selfies Positive or a Negative Activity?
Arpita Agarwal
O.P.Jindal Global University
The oxford dictionary has defined Selfies as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a Smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”. However, in these recent years, this word has taken an integral part in the world and been linked to a human being’s personality. Apparently, in 2013 it was even titled ‘Word of the Year’ by the oxford dictionary.
Taking selfies has helped a lot of people in building up confidence and feeling good about themselves[1]. Selfies have also helped some in resolving body complexes and express themselves better. People use them as a medium to make their own recognition in the world which is not a set back as it is a part of human nature to seek self-recognition. In fact, in the article written by Alexandra Sifferlin, a writer and producer for TIME Healthland, she has stated that, in some cases where the therapists found it difficult to talk to the patients about their issues, selfies served to be of a great help as they could start their conversation by talking about where, why and in what kind of mood was that selfie taken. [2]Hence, she also says that,
“Psychologically speaking, there may be some benefit to participating in sharing selfies because this practice is interwoven in our social culture and is a way to interact socially with others.” ”
As talked about in the TEDx video[3], some also consider selfies to be a mode of self expression or just a normal picture to make memories. Selfies remind people of when they looked good or felt good about themselves and it might cheer them up at a moment when they are low on self-confidence or motivation. In the digital world, it also serves as way of communicating with the rest. Hence, it is quite certain that taking selfies, on the whole, cannot be termed as a negative activity as it does help an individual to some extent but on the same side too much of this activity also does not reflect a positive trait of a person, in fact, the Klean treatment centre stated in their article “too many selfies could indicate a mental health issue” that more than 100 patients seek treatment for technology addiction, OCD, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder like the 19 year old boy who developed a selfie addiction and ended up taking 200 snaps of himself for ten hours every day[4]. Since, in the modern world, selfie is the latest trend of the pop culture, people have developed a kind of madness over clicking selfies.
An article in Hindustan Times also exemplifies how teenagers are becoming insensitive in their craze or desperation to take selfies that might catch attention. Like the article mentions about how some fans of “the megastar Amitabh Bachchan” started clicking selfies when he was attending a friend’s cremation. He felt totally disgusted by such behaviour of his fans. Dr Madhuri Singh, consulting psychiatrist at Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai, also states that she too witnessed a teenager taking a selfie with his friend’s mother “who was on ventilator and posted it on Facebook”. Another such case that has been mentioned in the article is that,
“Recently in Mexico, a young medical student, dressed in uniform with a stethoscope around her neck, took a smiling selfie next to a seriously-ill elderly woman lying on the bed. Her WhatsApp post read: "I was on duty and saw a lady was dying and then took a selfie".”[5] This demonstrates that people are forgetting basic aspects of humanity that one shall always look upon to maintain a friendly and sympathetic environment in the society. So, this level of obsession over selfies can certainly not be appreciated as it is simply driving out thoughtfulness from manhood.
The Klean Treatment Centre have actually defined the selfie addiction as- “perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t specter of either narcissism or low self-esteem”.[6]
Likewise, Rebecca Savastio in her article “Selfies Cause Narcissism, Mental Illness, Addiction and Suicide?”[7] talks about Danny Bowman who “ says he became so obsessed with trying to take the “right” selfie that he ended up shooting about 200 pictures a day while trying desperately to capture the perfect image of himself.” This obsession of his leads him to attempt suicide by taking an overdose of drugs. Considering cases like these it is determined that taking too many selfies is a ‘negative activity’.