Selfies. Seriously. What's the Big Deal?

Apparently Jezebel, a website that I guess is targeted towards...feminist audiences?...published an article stating that "selfies," photos people take of their own faces and posted online, are less about empowerment and more about a cry for help. This has also apparently drawn a lot of Internet ire, as it became a trending topic on the Twitterz and inspired a huge number of people to prove it isn't a cry for help by posting more selfies, thereby proving...well, I think it really proved nothing. It probably made them feel better about themselves, though. Taking a stand, or something like that.

Large parts of the article seemed to make sense, or at least confirm my preexisting biases. Which for me is the same as confirming that large parts of the article are correct.

Selfies seem to be a popular form of validation on social media. I mean, why else would you post a picture of yourself making a stupid duckface?

And there seems to be a particular set of demographics that are more inclined to doing it. Hint; you find them as werewolves in Twilight and fans of Twilight.

Some things I do get; I get the images taken of some kind of accomplishment. Hey, I just graduated! I just passed the Bar! I'm drunk off my ass in a bar!

These are images that are about something more than just yourself; you're trying to convey something of meaning or worth remembering. I can relate to that.

But the image of just yourself sticking your face in a camera lens to put online? What is it trying to say or convey?

"It doesn't have to say or convey anything! I'm just having fun! I'm being MEEEEE!"

That is more along the line of what the article said was narcissism. It's being posted for some kind of validation. "Aren't I pretty?" or "Don't I look great?!" They boil down to, "Look at MEEEE!"

This isn't a direct criticism of the behavior; it's our culture now. We love the idea of being validated by others. It's what social media is largely about. We post things in blogs hoping others will see it and tell us it's useful or great or that we're right, validating our opinions and feelings. We post crap to Facebook looking for likes or positive comments. We post things on Twitter and count retweets as affirmations that people love us.

Selfies are just another way of vying for attention.

So I'm puzzled when people blow up at this article. Sure, I disagree with the notion that selfies are a way to validate the idea that women are living up to a societal norm of what's beautiful; and I disagree with some of the characterization of what is and isn't a selfie. But it's not something to turn into a social cause or stir up righteous indignation.

I'm also puzzled when people say that selfies are "empowering." Empowered to do what? Is this a buzzword hijacked as shorthand for some cause that I've totally missed the point to? Usually empowerment means you have the authority to do something. I don't know how a teenager taking a duck photo of themselves or a guy showing how ripped he is at the gym equals authority to do anything.

There are also people who say they take these pictures because they don't fit social norms and don't care what others think of them. Which is great...but why'd you share the picture? I mean, isn't the purpose of showing something like that to seek feedback? Or are you expressing yourself in a way that elicits feedback while trying to show people you're such a badass you don't want that feedback? I just don't get it.

The only explanation I can come up with to reconcile the amount of ire drawn by this article is that people are overly sensitive to the framing of the idea; they object to the negative connotation of narcissism, or the idea that they're seeking validation in their behavior. Naturally they show how wrong this idea is by posting selfie pictures in droves with others, tagging the pictures so it trends as a Twitter topic with the hundreds of other outraged selfie-takers, in a totally not-ironic group behavior.

It's possible I'm being overly narrow in my definition of a selfie. The article had as an example a group of women in the Marines posting a picture of themselves after completing infantry training. I don't think of it as a selfie; it's a group of friends, or colleagues, or...whatever they consider themselves as a group of people having gone through and successfully overcome a big obstacle as a team. Just because your face is in it doesn't mean it's a "selfie." It's a memory to look back on.

But for people itching for a social issue to fight over, especially if they view something as criticizing something they themselves do, technicalities don't need to stop them from firing up the hate wagon.

This is simply another topic I chalk up to, "I just don't get it..." and I doubt I'm going to get any level headed, rational explanations any time soon. I'm open to explanations. But when it comes to teenagers posting pictures just because "I feel awesome!," you'll have a hard time convincing me the motive isn't a hope to have lots of people chime in and agree that yes, they do indeed look awesome, and anyone moved to disagree is asking to be dismissed as a "hater," another bit of Internet-emergent memedom that is equally vapid in popular meaning.

Do you have a better explanation for the meaning or motives behind a selfie? Is it something more than just begging for attention in a culture that prides itself on shallow attention for the sake of attention? Or is it as the article mentioned from yet another article, a way for women and younger girls to self-promote, seeing as boys are encouraged to self promote while women are being held back from doing so?