Selfies

This deceptively slim volume offers a deeper and more nuanced dive into its topic than many realize selfies deserve, revealing the form to be steeped in histories - of art, of photography, of technology - and contemporary attitudes toward gender, youth, and bodies. Remarkably clear, full of examples, and fun to read, this book is essential for anyone interested in popular culture. -- Nancy Baym
The author explores what selfies mean and do, why people love and hate them, and what it reveals about collective cultural values and social norms. She considers the different meanings of selfies within the wider context of social media, selfies as a practice of self-expression, why people take and like selfies, how selfies are neither the first nor the only technologically mediated practice with strong reactions by people, and how they are neither "good" nor "bad" and do not have a universal meaning. She discusses selfies in the context of history and technology by looking at previous versions of image making and information-sharing that are like selfies; how selfies have multiple functions and meanings; and how they make people feel and why they have the power to make people feel anything, addressing their related cultural stories and social norms and challenging the idea that they are narcissistic, inauthentic or low-quality photography, or empowering, showing how they are a part of feeling judged or in control. She ends with discussion of how the selfie has become a metaphor for various phenomena and practices, as well as its future. -- Annotation (c)2018 * (protoview.com) *