IS TAKING SELFIE CONSIDERED NARCISSISM?

RESILYN G. GONZALES

In restrospect, people would only take photographs during special occasion or event. But upon the rise of smartphones, taking a picture was made easy. Taking a selfie is one of the most favorite photography one would make. But is taking to much selfie considered narcissism? Most people these days take selfies, especially when they are in a good location or setting. Some consider it as a memorabilia and some would like to post and flaunt it in social media sites.

You probably encountered some of your friends from facebook who often post their selfies and overflow your news feed. Most of them, posting their selfies would boost their self image and they find fun doing it.

According to some research, people taking selfies were classified as communicators, self-publicist and autobiographers. Communicators are the ones who post selfies to connect with people by sharing information to other through posting their photos. As for the self-publicist, they are almost similar with communicators except for the fact that they share the selfies to show they differ from other people. And lastly the Autobiographers, these people are the type of selfie-takers who take their own photograph to document or record their memories.

Hence, among the three classification of selfie-takers, the self-publicist looks like a bit narcissistic, given that they find themselves different from the crowd.

Consequently, people who take their selfies don’t mean that they are narcissist. They may be perceived as self-obsessed, but for them taking their own photos is documenting part of their life and that is through snapping photos.

Taking pictures nowadays is a way to express what we feel, unlike before it is typically done for special purposes. Some people might not understand a selfie-taker on how they express themselves, butfor them what they do is valuable enough to keep. — oOo— The author is Master Teacher I at Villa Teodora Elem. School