Moscow State School № 1246

SELFIE YOUR LIFE

Research Work

Student of the 9th B form

Nika Umnyagina

Teacher of English: J.I. Semernikova

Moscow 2017

1

Contents

1 Introduction 3

2. Chapter I. Modern tendency of sharing your life to the others 5

3 Chapter II. What is selfie? 7

4 Chapter III. History of selfie 9

5 Chapter IV. Instagram as the most popular social network to post a selfie 10

6 Chapter V. How to take selfie

7 Chapter VI Not worth your life

11

13

8 Appendix. Facts about selfies

9 Statistics

16

17

10 Conclusion 15

11 Bibliography 19

2

INTRODUCTION

What did you have for dinner last night? What about your last vacation… was it somewhere fantastic and photogenic? Did you take a picture of it and post it on Instagram? Well, have a look at my Selfie!

Selfie has become a huge part of modern life. It has transformed the simple self-portrait into something more immediate and has grown in cultural importance – it’s been linked to identity, self-exploration and narcissism. Something as simple as putting a camera on the front of a mobile device has created a cultural trend that looks set to last. According to Oxford English Dictionary, Selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. 

Recent figures show that 91% of teens have taken a selfie and over 1 million are taken each day. It’s one of the most popular addictions of the nowadays society. Whether it’s the duckface smirk or the coyly suggestive close-up, selfies are a main-stay of Twitter and Instagram and have parents and psychologists wringing their hands over what they “mean.”

But here comes the question we can’t ignore: is taking a Selfie dangerous for you? Can a simple selfie kill? What should we do to survive?

The subject of my research is the one of the enigmas of the modern society, sometimes called a disease and mostly known as Selfie. Having become popular it absorbs people’s lives causing addiction.

The aim of my research is to show what is a Selfie, if it can be considered dangerous or not. I’ll also prove why selfie addiction is one of the problems discussed today and what can be done about it.

The tasks of my research I singled out are the following:

To deepen knowledge about Selfie

To study this phenomenon and its influence on our lives

To analyze pros and cons of selfie making

To focus on recommendations how to make the safest Selfie

While doing my research I used different methods:

I analyzed various materials on the topic published by Research Agencies and Universities;

3

I summarized information about this phenomenon I made a poll about the Selfie mania among the teachers and students of

my school.

Some social scientists lump the selfie trend — which is most popular among younger social media users — into the larger narcissism that they say is more preva-lent among today’s preteens and adolescents, arguing that the self-portraits are an ex-tension of their self-absorption. While others view it as nothing more than an outlet for self-expression, which just happen to be shared more publicly via the communica-tion mode of our times — social media.

In my research I’ve tried to take a glance of selfie – life style and to analyze its role in the modern society.

4

CHAPTER I

MODERN TENDENCY OF SHARING YOUR LIFETO THE OTHERS

Lots of studies have worked toward figuring out what exactly goes on in our brains when we’re participating in social media.

A recent one discovered a strong connection between social media and the brain’s reward center, called the nucleus accumbens. This area processes rewarding feelings about things like food, money and social acceptance.

When we get positive feedback on social media, the feeling ights up this part of our brain. The greater the intensity of our social media use, the greater the reward.

Another fascinating study recorded physiological reactions like pupil dilation in volunteers as they looked at their Facebook accounts to find that browsing Facebook can evoke what they call flow state, the feeling you get when you’re totally and happily engrossed in a project or new skill.

It’s not news that we love to talk about ourselves. Humans devote about 30–40% of all speech to talking about themselves. But online that number jumps to about 80% of social media posts. Why? Talking face-to-face is messy and emotionally involved–we don’t have time to think about what to say, we have to read facial cues and body language.

Online, we have time to construct and refine. This is what psychologists call self-presentation: positioning yourself the way you want to be seen.The feeling we get from self-presentation is so strong that viewing your own Facebook profile has been shown to increase your self-esteem.

If we like talking about ourselves so much, what would make us share something of someone else’s?

5

Passing information on is an impulse that we’re hard-wired with. Just the thought of sharing activates our brain’s reward centers, even before we’ve done a thing.First, it comes back to our own self image:68% of people say they share to give others a better sense of who they are and what they care about.But the biggest reason we share is about other people: 78% of people say they share because it helps them to stay connected to people.

Most marketers tend to think conversations with customers are hugely important. That engagement—interacting as much as possible—is what builds long-term advocacy.So it’s surprising to find that customers don’t feel the same way. A survey of more than 7,000 consumers found that only 23% said they have a relationship with a brand. Of those who did, only 13% cited frequent interactions with the brand as a reason for having a relationship.

Consumers said shared values were a much bigger driver for a relationship than lots of interaction with a brand.

This is not to say that comments aren’t powerful. In fact, they can be incredibly so—there’s a phenomenon known as shared reality that says our whole experience of something is affected by if and how we share it with others.

85% of us say reading other people’s responses on a topic helps us understand and process information and events.

6

CHAPTER II

WHAT IS A SELFIE?

A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or camera phone held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They are usually flattering and made to appear casual. Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm's length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer. A selfie-stick can be used to position the camera farther away from the subject, allowing the camera to see more around them.

Selfie in Instagram

Selfie, a self-portrait photograph typically taken with a cell phone or digital camera, has become a trending topic on Instagram becoming the “word of the year” as announced by Oxford English Dictionary in November 2013. Selfies attract a wide range of viewers as seen by the second most-liked picture on Instagram from Justin Bieber’s Instagram account. Bieber’s selfie with Selena Gomez acquired 1.82 million likes. This trend has sparked interest within the music industry as well with the debut of the song "Selfie" by The Chainsmokers in January 2014.

Who Takes Selfies?Anyone who has a smartphone has the power to take a selfie, but the younger

crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend – mainly because teens and the 18 to 34 demographic are heavier digital users than their older counterparts.

Photo-based social networks that are meant to be primarily used on a mobile device like Instagram and Snapchat have made selfie-taking even more intense. These users connect to their friends/audiences in completely visual ways.

7

Some selfies are extreme close-ups, others show part of an arm held straight outward and a few of the great ones even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror so that they can get a full body shot of their reflection.

There are lots of selfie styles, and these are some of the most common.Many have jumped on the selfie stick trend to avoid having to extend their arm

to capture better shots. Since social media is the driving force of most selfie activity, younger kids interested in staying connected to their friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, crushes or colleagues are more active in sharing selfies on a regular basis.

Why Do People Take Selfies?

Who knows what kind of psychological factors drive any specific person to take a selfie and upload it to a social networking site. It could be anything. Everyone’s own situation is different, but here are some of the most common theories:

To genuinely express themselves: Not all selfies are driven by narcissism. Lots of people take selfies and post them online just to authentically express what they're doing or thinking.

To build their own self-image: Many people take selfies entirely for themselves, even though they may post them online for everyone else to see. For these people, taking selfies allows them to become more confident with their appearances.

To get attention from as many people as possible: Here's where the narcissistic part kicks in. People like to get noticed on social media, and all of those “likes” and comments from friends are a quick and easy way to fish for compliments and boost one’s own ego.

To get a specific person’s attention: Kids who are connected on a social network to someone they admire may be more driven to upload attractive or alluring selfies as a way to seek attention, especially if they’re too shy to do it in person. It’s a strange new flirting method that’s only been around since the rise of mobile, but it’s definitely there.

Boredom: Hey, there are people who are bored at work, bored at school, bored at home and bored on the toilet. That’s right. Some people will take selfies because they have nothing else better to do.

Because social media is fun: Last but not least, social media is about being social! If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so be it. Some people don’t need a real reason to do it. They just do it because they like to do it, it’s fun, and it’s a cool way to sort of document your own life.

8

CHAPTER III

HISTORY OF SELFIE

Robert Cornelius, an American pioneer in photography, produced a daguerreotype of himself in 1839 which is also one of the first photographs of a person. Because the process was slow he was able to uncover the lens, run into the shot for a minute or more, and then replace the lens cap.He recorded on the back "The first light Picture ever taken. 1839."

The debut of the portable Kodak Brownie box camera in 1900 led to photographic self-portraiture becoming a more widespread technique. The method was usually by mirror and stabilizing the camera either on a nearby object or on a tripod while framing via a viewfinder at the top of the box. Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, at the age of 13, was one of the first teenagers to take her own picture using a mirror to send to a friend in 1914. In the letter that accompanied the photograph, she wrote, «I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling.»

Photographic self-portraiture flourished in the 1970s when affordable instant cameras birthed a new medium of self-expression, capturing uncharacteristically personal insight into otherwise conservative individuals and allowing amateurs to learn photography with immediate results.This practice transitioned naturally across to digital cameras as they supplanted film cameras around the turn of the millennium.

The first use of the word selfie in any paper or electronic medium appeared in an Australian internet forum on 13 September 2002.

The term "selfie" was discussed by photographer Jim Krause in 2005,although photos in the selfie genre predate the widespread use of the term. In the early 2000s, before Facebook became the dominant online social network, self-taken photographs were particularly common on MySpace. However, writer Kate Losse recounts that between 2006 and 2009 (when Facebook became more popular than MySpace), the "MySpace pic" (typically "an amateurish, flash-blinded self-portrait, often taken in front of a bathroom mirror") became an indication of bad taste for users of the newer Facebook social network. Early Facebook portraits, in contrast, were usually well-focused and more formal, taken by others from distance. In 2009 in the image hosting and video hosting website Flickr, Flickr users used 'selfies' to describe seemingly endless self-portraits posted by teenage girls.According to Losse, improvements in design—especially the front-facing camera of the iPhone 4 (2010), mobile photo apps such as Instagram and Snapchat led to the resurgence of selfies in the early 2010s.

9

CHAPTER IV

INSTAGRAM AS THE MOST POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIAFOR SELFIE-POSTING

Instagram is a mobile app that allows users to upload content and share their lives with the world through photos and videos. In many respects, Instagram’s photo-sharing platform has been unique from the start. Once a user takes a photo, he or she

can choose a filter to customize the image and capture the moment perfectly. The purpose of the filters is to transform an amateur or mediocre mobile photo into an

artistic and professional-looking image.Instagram, founded in 2010, derived its name from the combination of “instant camera” and “telegram.” Starting with one million monthly users, the photo-sharing app found itself with 100 million uploaded photos by July 2011 and 10 million users in September of that same year. In April 2012, the company announced passing the 30 million user mark. That same month, Facebook took note of Instagram’s growth and bought the app for $1 billion, its third largest acquisition to date. From that point on, use of Instagram skyrocketed. It reached 80 million monthly users after the acquisition and nearly doubled that to150 million users in month by the end of 2013.

Selfies attract a wide range of viewers as seen by the second most-liked picture on instagram from Justin Bieber’s instagram account.Bieber’s selfie with Selena Gomez acquired 1.82 million likes.

10

CHAPTER V

HOW TO TAKE A SELFIE?

It may take some practice, but if you spend enough time looking at yourself on your camera screen and snapping photo after photo, you should learn how to take good selfies in no time. After all, it isn't rocket science. Here are a few good tips to keep in mind when trying to capture that perfect selfie.

1. Get a smartphone with a good quality camera.When it comes to smartphones, not all cameras are made equal. Some older

models don't even have front-facing cameras. And even if it does, you can do all the editing that you want on your selfie after you've taken it, but it's probably not going to hide the fact that your camera isn't so great.Do your research on camera features and quality next time you pick out your next smartphone. The camera on the latest model of the iPhone is excellent, and while some Androids have cameras that are just as good and even better, others definitely do not.2. Make sure you have the appropriate lighting.

Lighting can make all the difference in a photo. How many selfies have you seen where there's such low light that everything looks dark and orange and grainy? A lot? Probably. Don't be one of them!

Plan to take your selfie in a well lit room or under natural light.You may need to adjust your phone's camera settings to get it looking just right.

You can also take a look at some of these photography tips for lighting.3. Don't force your facial expression.

This can be tricky, but overdoing it with your smile or your eyes or even the way you hold your hand out from your phone can send the message that you might be trying too hard. It may take some practice to look natural while trying so hard, but it's probably worth it.4. Experiment with different angles.

Ah, the art of photography. Finding an angle that's just right can really transform your selfie. Not all faces look their best from one side or one angle, so try experimenting with what you like best.5. Download an app that allows you to edit your selfie.

There are tons of great apps out there that handle all the dirty work for you - from contrast and brightness to smoothing skin and sharpening blurriness. Check out some of the top photo apps for iPhone and for Android.6. Go easy on the editing and filter effects.

11

It can be real tempting to pick one of those funky app filters that turn your selfie into an almost unrecognizable photo of yourself.

Sometimes they can work, but other times, they really don't -- and people online are getting good at picking out what looks real and what looks fake these days.

Same goes for editing. Those editing apps are there to help, but too much is never a good thing. You don't want people to be able to tell that you've gone crazy with editing on your selfie.

As a final tip, try paying attention to how other people take their own selfies. You may be able to get some ideas and try some different techniques as you draw inspiration from others.Final tip: Remember that it's just a selfie, so don't stress too much over it!

You may not be able to please everyone, no matter how good your selfie turns out to be. What may be considered a good selfie by one person might not be considered so great by someone else's standards.

Selfie-taking is an art of the mobile era. Have fun with it! Don't take it all so seriously, and remember that the most natural looking photos are usually considered to be among the best.

.

CHAPTER VI12

NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE

When you’re in an incredible destination with a view or a historical site you just have to capture in a photo, your first instinct may be to turn on your phone’s front facing camera and snap a selfie. But according to media reports, that may actually be dangerous.

So far in 2015, at least 12 people have been killed in selfie-related incidents and many more injured. Those numbers make selfies more deadly than shark attacks – eight people have died this year as a result of shark attacks.

Just this past September, a Japanese tourist died after allegedly slipping down the stairs while taking a selfie at India’s Taj Mahal monument. In a separate incident, a man was gored to death at the annual bull running festival in the Spanish town of Villaseca de la Sagra – he was trying to take a selfie with the animals when he was fatally injured.

Other selfie-related deaths have been caused by distracted selfie-snappers crashing their cars, falling off cliffs, being hit by trains and even shooting themselves while posing with guns.

The selfie craze has actually gotten so dangerous that officials in Australia fenced off a 16-story-high rock that resembles a wedding cake. Apparently people wouldn’t stop taking photos on top of it, even though it poses the risk of collapsing at any time.

Australia isn’t alone – there have been many selfie-related incidents in Russia as well. In one incident, two men were killed in the Urals while taking a selfie holding a hand grenade with the pin pulled out. In another incident, a teenager died while climbing onto a railway bridge to snap a picture. The slew of selfies-gone-bad incidents led the Russia government to launch a campaign warning people about the dangers of taking selfies.

But what is it about taking selfies that can put your life at risk?

13

Research has found that men who post a lot of selfies score higher in traits of narcissism and psychopathy in online tests, although they are still in the healthy range. That suggests they may be more likely to focus on the personal gain in situations rather than potential danger. For example, the attention they may gain from posting a crazy selfie outweighs the consequences of their actions – they may not even consider potential consequences or dangers.

And then there’s the distraction factor. You already know how dangerous it is to look at your phone and take your eyes off the road while driving. The same rings true if you’re preoccupied looking at your phone trying to snap the perfect selfie.

When you’re looking at your phone, you’re not as in control of the complex actions like walking and running (especially from a mob of bulls) and you may not be able to notice something happening around you that may pose a risk to your well-being.

You’re faced with three different types of distractions when you’re looking at your phone: manual, visual and cognitive. You’re doing something else, you’re seeing something else and your mind is elsewhere, as opposed to focusing on your surroundings.

So what’s the moral of this selfie story? Proceed with caution. Seriously assess your surroundings before turning your phone camera on yourself. And, perhaps, put your camera away and simply take in the sights, and enjoy.

CONCLUSION

14

  In conclusion I should say that of course social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon called “Selfie”.

In just a few short years our mobile phone driven world has turned a world of camera-shy and often appropriately modest friends and neighbors into a digitally connected world of  on-camera performers… creating visual autobiographies in real-time. It may be the 2016 word of the year, but for certain at-risk people, taking selfies just may be dangerous.

But why do people take selfies? To get attention from as many people as possible or to get self-esteem boost. Kind of cute for the first five minutes but when some people change their profile photo several times a day, it may be indicative of a problem.

Social media allows us to show off only the best of ourselves, when you see other people always at their best it is possible to falsely assume that what is represented on their Facebook is generally the reality of their life. 

We should not forget that too much selfies can also cause psychological effects on adolescents. It can cause narcissism, depression, low self esteem and addiction. It is more dangerous for teenagers who are still developing their identity because often times posting what you believe is the perfect picture of yourself can lead to more negative thoughts if you don't get the positive feedback you are seeking.

Although selfies can be anodyne and fun, there is a real danger of us losing our connection to and consciousness of the world around us. It is not about making moral judgements or giving advices.

My main recommendation is the following: making dangerous selfies and posting them on the internet is your own will, but be smart and never let yourself put your life in danger for taking a good selfie, because otherwise you will never have a chance to take a selfie once again.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SELFIES

1. 1 million selfies are taken globally every day (18 to 24 year-old age 15

demographic)

2. 58, 425, 492 photos with the tag #selfie on Instagram

3. 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last 2 years

4. 14% of selfies are digitally enhances

5. 36% of people have admitted to altering their selfies

6. 34% of men say they retouch selfies, whereas only 13% of women admit to it

7. Most selfies are shared on Facebook, closely followed by WhatsApp

8. 30% of the photos taken by people aged 18-24 are selfies

9. Selfies are most popular in Australia, closely followed by Canada and the U.S.

10. 1 million selfies are taken every day

11. There are almost 35 million photos containing the hashtag #Selfie on Instagram alone

12. London is the most popular city to take a selfie in with 14% of all selfies being taken there

STATISCTICS16

Teachers (7 out of 12)

33% make selfies

25% post nature

25% post food

17% everything they like

17

Teachers' profiles

selfies nature food different things

Students

selfie food nature different things

Students (100 pers)

60% make selfies

20% post nature

10% post food

10% everything they like

18

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://blog.bufferapp.com/science-of-shareable-content

2. https://blog.bufferapp.com/psychology-of-social-media

3. https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-selfie-3485946

4. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/10760753/Why-we-really-take-selfies-the-terrifying-reasons-explained.html

5. https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-take-good-selfie-3485840

6. https://blog.bufferapp.com/psychology-of-selfies

7. http://www.healthytravelblog.com/2015/10/19/taking-selfies-can-be-dangerous-even-deadly/

8. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/selfies-are-dangerous-distracting_us_56d841c5e4b0000de40373b9

9. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3690165/The-world-s-dangerous-selfies-meet-adventure-photographers-putting-lives-risk-perfect-self-portrait.html

10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3690165/The-world-s-dangerous-selfies-meet-adventure-photographers-putting-lives-risk-perfect-self-portrait.html

11. https://infogr.am/selfie-statistics

12. http://theselfystore.com/blog/10%20Statistics%20About%20Selfies%20%7C%20Selfie%20Statistics%20%7C%20Selfy%20Store

19