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Unself Your Selfie

I have to get this off my chest. It’s been confusing me for far too long.

Where in the world did the term “selfie” originate from and who is responsible for turning it into world-wide epidemic? Maybe it’s been going on for years now; but just in the last several months my Facebook and Instagram feeds seem to be infested with “selfies.” Who decided that it was okay to take multiple pictures of yourself, and post them to the world-wide web as long as it has “selfie” as a label?  Does using the term “selfie” somehow make it seem less….selfie?

I’m getting off track here. This post is not meant to bash on all the “selfie” pictures out there, nor is it meant to state whether such selfie pictures are right or wrong. I’m sure there are some  legitimate reasons to post a selfie. I don’t want anyone to feel they need to defend themself.  I simply want to PLEAD for LESS of them!

selfie pic

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I was curious so I did a simple search on Instagram to see how many pictures had the hashtag #selfie.  Guess how many?

Just under 57 MILLION!  That my friends, is INSANE.

I was shocked, so I did a little more researching. Next, I searched under #family.   Guess how many?  42 Million.  Still almost 15 Million less than #selfie.

So next I searched #sisters.  I figured there’s got to be quite a girls out there taking pictures with there sis.  Nope.  Only 9 Million. That’s almost 50 million less than pictures of people taking pictures of themself.

So next I tried a term that’s been around FOREVER:  #bff.  “There are tons of best friends out there,” I thought. Nope, only 12 million. People are taking 45 million more pictures of themselves than they are with their B.F.Fs.

I also searched for any hashtag with the term “married” “weddingday” “baby” and “blessed.”  Nothing came close to my search results for #selfie.

In desperation I tried #Christmas.  There are tons of Christmas-lovers out there, right? People taking pictures of their very first Christmas as husband and wife, or of their kids sitting on Santa’s lap, or even decorating the Christmas tree. Nope, only 24,000.

Still not even HALF the amount of pictures than the ones titled “selfies.”

I did find ONE hashtag that came in higher than selfie.  It was #beautiful.  But guess what?  One of the first 6 pictures was ALSO a selfie!  That’s good to know, at least those who are taking pictures of themselves also consider themselves as beautiful.

Is anyone else disturbed by this trend? I get it, we are the smartphone generation…I myself am guilty of taking like a million pictures of my kids. We have cameras with us at all moments. For a generation that is blessed with so many picture-taking capabilities, why aren’t there more pictures of the truly beautiful moments in life? Random acts of kindness. Marriage. Family. Nature. Holidays and celebrations. THINGS WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR?

selfie generation

Sometimes I think about what it might be like when we are all dead and mingling with each other on the other side.  How cool it will be to talk to our heroes from other generations. I imagine myself wanting to hear stories of those who lived through the great depression, world wars and various hard and challenging times. I want to know stories of those who walked barefoot in snow, traveled oceans, or sacrificed everything they had for religious freedom. I will want to talk with the brave men who founded our very country and wrote our constitution.

But I really hope they don’t look at us and say, “Oh. Aren’t you from the ‘selfie generation’? You are the ‘entitled ones’ who sat around taking pictures of yourself while selfishness and greed took over and ruined the country and government that we worked so hard (and sacrificed so much) to build.”

um…awkward.

Please don’t feel bad about “selfies” that you have taken in the past. You might have been justified in taking them, or maybe you just didn’t know better. But please stop taking them. And please inspire your teens to stop taking them. I love seeing pictures of your family. I love seeing what you came up with for your Halloween costume this year, and sometimes I even have interest in that beautiful dish that you created for dinner.

But I have never been inspired by a “selfie.”

And in the scary world that we live in, we need to start inspiring each other! We need more kindness, more love, and more beauty. We need to pay it forward, work hard, and love those around us. We need less selfishness.

Please join me in a new movement: #unselfyourself. Let’s put those smartphones to use and start taking pictures with other people. People that we love. People that inspire us. Take pictures of traditions and holidays and celebrations. Let’s look back on our pictures and see memories.

Hashtag them whatever you want, but let’s put an end to the “selfie.”

Tina M

Tina M

I'm six-foot tall mother of three and I'm enjoying the view! I'm currently fighting a battle with Lyme disease and am determined to come out victorious. I enjoy warm summer rain, peanut butter everything, having dance parties with my husband and kids, natural remedies and healthy living. Most days I'm just looking for another excuse to avoid the piles of laundry.
Tina M
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Comments

  1. I actually love selfies! I think they tell great stories, especially when no one else is around to take a pic. Why not feel good about yourself and share your joy/outfit/whatever cool thing you’re doing with others? And I would assume there’s more selfies than those other things because you see yourself considerably more than you see your sisters, for example. Honestly, I’d love to have tons of photos of my mom (yes, selfies) from the 70s and her daily comings and goings. I’d love that a lot. I do agree with you that there are so many beautiful moments in life worth sharing and that it’s good to look outside ourselves — but I don’t think taking selfies takes away from my ability to focus outside myself. I also think people spend a lot of time worrying about what photos other people are taking (and what they’re wearing, doing, etc.), and where does that put THEIR focus/mindset? Live and let live, is my feeling on it, really. Just something I’ve thought about before, not trying to be too argumentative 🙂

    Reply

    • Haha, Katie… I don’t mind argumentative…I’d have to shut down the blog if I did. I actually appreciate the “selfies” that I’ve seen you post as they always seem to come with a story. You have a talent for making others laugh and making life interesting. Like I said, I’m sure there are some legitimate reasons for selfies and maybe my post came off too strongly (I hope I don’t find my friend list to have vanished by the end of the day). I guess as a mother I fear a generation of kids that value their worth based on how many “likes” and comments their selfie pics receive. And yes, I still think there are way too many duck-faced selfies out there! 🙂

  2. I love this post!!! You nailed it on the head! We’re raising up entitlement, where there should be humility, love and grace! Thank you for the laugh and knowing there are others who share my opinion as well!
    Hollie

    Reply

  3. Love this! Completely agree! For me, It’s not the “me in my cute, new outfit going to church” selfies that bother me so much, it’s the “this is me just livin the high life in my car wearing aviators making a sexy face” selfies that get me. : )

    Reply

    • For me, it’s when I see 12-year old girls doing it just because they see the high school girls doing it. I just want to say, “NO!!! Come back to the innocent sweet girl that you are!”

  7. Thank you, feel the exact same way. Very very tired of selfies and please don’t get me started on the duck lips or the seductive poses. Please stop! Share your interesting life with us or your amazing family and friends. Selfies are incredibly boring.

    Reply

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