Anyone would probably agree that all these hashtags and selfies are dominating the pop culture and our society today. The posts you see on your Instagram feed are most likely a selfie with at least a hashtag. Apparently “selfie,” defined by Oxford Dictionary as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website,” was the Word of the Year 2013. It’s actually not a new idea or anything at all. In fact, the first ever selfie was said to be taken way back in 1839. It’s just that the word “selfie” first appeared in 2002 but really boomed recently in 2013. Again, our pop culture is simply just remixing, or adapting to what’s already existed in the past and making it super popular. And then the hashtags are just there because it’s something that everyone else does, even if it serves the wrong purpose and is completely unnecessary.
It’s definitely nice seeing people’s faces and the things going on in their lives. That’s one of the main purposes of media, right? To keep people updated no matter where they are? But on the other hand, if they can only see you through media, then that’s all you get judged based on. The song #SELFIE probably explains this best. Before you do anything (and in this case, judging other people), you have to: “first, let me take a selfie.” Then instead of interacting with people who can judge you on the real you in real life, you have to spend all your time taking hundreds of selfies to get the right one before spending a couple more hours choosing the right filter. Why? Because your selfies on media pretty much define you nowadays. It doesn’t matter what your personality is, how smart you are, or how nice you are. As long as you have good selfies, that’s all that matters. After all, that’s what everyone can see, not just the people around you who are actually significant and can have an impact on your life. So why not just put all the effort and time into a selfie and not what’s actually going on in real life?
This also puts a lot of emphasis on purely just physical appearance and photoshopping skills. In #SELFIE, she said, “Oh my god, Jason just texted me. Should I go home with him? I guess I took a good selfie.” What does this say about the value of a person? So Jason only likes you because you look good in a selfie? I'll leave these questions with you to answer yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of pop culture that is overshadowing us all today.
It’s definitely nice seeing people’s faces and the things going on in their lives. That’s one of the main purposes of media, right? To keep people updated no matter where they are? But on the other hand, if they can only see you through media, then that’s all you get judged based on. The song #SELFIE probably explains this best. Before you do anything (and in this case, judging other people), you have to: “first, let me take a selfie.” Then instead of interacting with people who can judge you on the real you in real life, you have to spend all your time taking hundreds of selfies to get the right one before spending a couple more hours choosing the right filter. Why? Because your selfies on media pretty much define you nowadays. It doesn’t matter what your personality is, how smart you are, or how nice you are. As long as you have good selfies, that’s all that matters. After all, that’s what everyone can see, not just the people around you who are actually significant and can have an impact on your life. So why not just put all the effort and time into a selfie and not what’s actually going on in real life?
This also puts a lot of emphasis on purely just physical appearance and photoshopping skills. In #SELFIE, she said, “Oh my god, Jason just texted me. Should I go home with him? I guess I took a good selfie.” What does this say about the value of a person? So Jason only likes you because you look good in a selfie? I'll leave these questions with you to answer yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of pop culture that is overshadowing us all today.