There is something Grimm happening my brothers and sisters. More and more I see people staring dumfounded with a childlike blankful heart at nothing other than their hands holding a phone.
Some ridiculously twist their lips outward, and others put themselves at great peril to capture a “Selfie”, or as people past their 20s have always called, a self portrait.
And much like the mirror, mirror on the wall, Selfies have become our obsession, a technological crutch to separate us from the outside world unintentionally creating a fixed image of what we should look like even if those standards of beauty are unattainable.
We lie to our own accord seeing only what we want, and unintentionally living in a fairy tale.
Ultimately we have become so self-absorbed that we forget about the outside world.
One thing is apparent. Our inability to focus (regardless what filter you use) on anyone other than ourselves or immediate bow to every knee jerking fad in the internet, unintentionally creating a fixed image of that we should look like even if those standards of beauty are unattainable and inability to think outside the box (or iPhone).
Though some make the claim that the increase in technological connectivity is beneficial, the evidence to the contrary and extreme misuse of this new renaissance can be seen just by walking around, or going to a bar, or a concert.
Though “selfies” have become the norm by making the Oscars and Ellen DeGeneres current for another couple months as a trend, the word has been added to the Oxford Dictionary Online along with thought provoking words like “twerk” or “jort”(That’s short for jeans shorts).
Uniformity seems more imminent; a recent survey by The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery saw an increase in requests for procedures due to patients being more self-aware of looks in social media.
The International Business Times also reported that scientists have found a link between selfies and narcissism.
“Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t spectre of either narcissism or low self-esteem,” said psychologist Pamela Rutledge, according to the IB Times.
In a way our attachment and obsession with making a virtual life is taking our individuality and self-esteem.
When Selfie was added to the Oxford Dictionary Online; Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information diagnosed the social pitfalls and redundancy of how fickle popular fads can be.
“It used to be in order to make the dictionary you had to have respectable antecedents in literary usage, but now they pick words because of Reddit and things like that generating buzz,” said Nunberg.
Ultimately we become uniformed and impressionable.
There is something very human about taking a picture to capture a moment, but don’t spend all your time updating others on your ordinary life.
So put your phones down and stop making odd poses.
Don’t irritate others with luminescent flashes screaming and reflecting off daffy, self-absorbed grimace that should never be on anyone’s face.
Editor’s note: Send all complains and disagreements to the e-mail below also make sure to attach a selfie to identify who to ignore and avoid.
