"Selfies" are part of this generation's culture, and students should embrace them as fun and silly forms of expression. Selfies have been a rising trend since the MySpace era. Kids were taking bathroom mirror pictures with their parents' digital cameras before front-facing cell phone photos even existed. Let's be real, my generation all but invented the shot-from-above profile picture. The selfie movement gained popularity, especially among females, because at its origin it shows acceptance of the fact that nobody is perfect. Regular people take regular pictures and that is okay. Of course, nowadays it is more about having a good selfie game and less about embracing flaws, but that is okay too. Selfies are fun and harmless. When having an especially good hair day, selfies are often the best and easiest way to document one's diva moment for the world to see. However, the flipside to the fun of selfies are the people who do not know when enough is enough. It is irritating to have my Instagram feed clogged up with multiple pictures of the same girl. Luckily, I have compiled a list of tips that can help clear up the mystery of selfie appropriateness.  

 

Firstly, students need to know how frequent is too frequent when it comes to posting selfies. Unless there are special circumstances, generally no more than one selfie a week is a good idea. Not knowing when enough is enough can turn students into that person who takes so many selfies others have to unfollow them to maintain sanity. Students should consider their surroundings before they take a selfie. There has been a bizarre trend lately of people taking selfies at funerals, and I am not at all on board with that. Just do not do that a funeral is not the time or place to take a selfie. Also, students should not post selfies that obviously display themselves participating in illegal behavior such as underage drinking and substance abuse.  

 

Several of my friends have expressed their discontent with the selfie epidemic our generation sparked. Many feel it makes our generation seem self-absorbed and narcissistic. Personally, I say who cares? They are called selfies for crying out loud. They are a form of self-expression just like nail polish or earrings. The turtle earrings I always wear represent how much I love turtles and only that. Similarly, the selfie I took displaying my bomb makeup last week represents how much I like makeup and only that.  

 

Selfies are silly, fun and harmless. They can be annoying in large amounts, but that issue can easily be solved with the press of the "unfollow" button. The bottom line is that selfies are just pictures - nothing more and nothing less.  

 

Of course the one downfall to cell phone cameras and trying to get selfies - your arms just aren't long enough; particularly if you're trying to get a nice scenery behind you in the photo as well. While it's not a necessity, the Ipow Extendable Self-portrait Wireless Bluetooth monopod is a super cool accessory. I have a Samsung Note 2 that I used this on and it was super easy. I connected it, turned on my Bluetooth, paired the devices and it was connected. The phone was able to stay on the monopod securely. It was easy to put on as well as remove. I could also adjust the length of the monopod as well. With my phone, using my default camera was not an option with this accessory so I downloaded their recommended app. Using the app I was then able to use the accessory. The downside to the app is that I could not choose which way for the camera to face so I couldn't see how my photo would come out beforehand. The good thing though was that it still used a flash and the photo still came out nicely. Overall a great product, awesome accessory to have on hand, and fairly priced.

 

 

 

 

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