Part 2: The Selfie and Producing a Front

The Selfie and producing a front.

It is well understood that a selfie is not a production of a deep and meaningful self-portrait, and neither is it designed to be.  Instead, the selfie is constructed in such a way to produce an image that is meant to present a certain persona of a person, something referred to by Irving Goffman as a front.

In The Presentation of Everyday Life Goffman discusses something that he has defined as being a Front.  Goffman classifies Front as being “that part of the individual’s performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed fashion to define the situation for those who observe the performance.” (p32).  Initially Goffman defines Front as being a performance, something that is not genuine but is an act for the benefit of the audience. 

For instance, the selfie above is a random image from a search on Instagram for selfie.  It can show that even though the depiction of the woman is probably accurate to a certain degree, the content of the image is not.  I don’t doubt that the young woman would actually look like this image, but to define the photograph just on how it appears is missing the point.  I can imagine a few tweaks in photoshop could have been applied, maybe darkening the background to make the young woman stand out more, to dominate the photograph as she is the main subject.  But generally speaking, there is no reason to doubt the image is depicting a realistic image.

However, the performance is meant to be convincing to the audience and will give them enough depth for them to believe the performance is genuine.  As other people and academics have mentioned, a portrait is constructed of a minimum of two properties and sometimes even more, that “all portraits represent something about the body and face, on the one hand, and the soul character, or virtues of the sitter, on the other.” (West, p27). But it is this balancing act that is unbalanced in the selfie, that the representation of the subject overshadows the expression of character or virtues.   

This is not a criticism of the selfie, but just an observation.  The selfie is designed to encapsulate a performance and not meant to express deep emotions or concepts and so becomes the perfect vehicle for presenting a front.  But, how does the selfie do this, what are the parameters of the performance and how is it constructed?

Thankfully, Goffman has a suggestion.  Returning to The Presentation of Everyday Life, Goffman “suggested that social front can be divided into traditional parts, such as setting, appearance and manner.” (Goffman, p39). By having the performance delivered with using the three properties of setting, appearance and manner helps to identify what is needed to be analysed in the delivery of the performance. 

It is these three properties that can be seen in the selfie above.  To begin with the setting of the selfie are virtually always taken in an informal place, with the example above being taken in what appears to be a domestic setting.  There appears to be, for example, no office equipment or industrial machinery in the background but instead there are plain painted walls.  Also, there is some cards or small framed images on a shelf on the right hand side.  The domestic setting appears to be popular with the selfie, but it’s not exclusively the domain of the selfie.  Other settings are gymnasiums, restaurants or clubs and bars, along with beaches or an expansive landscape.  With such a wide range of settings it can be easy to overlook that these are all social places, places where people relax and can be at ease. 

This is not to say that a selfie can’t be taken in a work environment, but it would look odd.  It would suggest too strongly that a professional persona was being fabricated, that a different type of performance was being presented.  There would be the expected corporate smile, that the person is not representing themselves but the company instead, a public face for the company to present to the world.

Next, there is the appearance of the person.  When viewing Instagram for selfie images, virtually every image was of a young, healthy person, like the example above.  The skin was smooth, probably through the use of either a filter being applied or the use of make up, with a healthy colour and looking the correct weight.  There was no obesity, no acne or wrinkles or of an elderly person.  There is the possibility that the Instagram algorithm is warping the search results and is only displaying people who are young and healthy, but it is possible that the majority of people taking selfies fall into the young and healthy group. 

However, the underlying issue here is that was is being displayed is the appearance of perfection.  There are no imperfections such as a double chin, but ripped muscles and smooth skin and promotes the ideals of a dream, as can be seen in the image above.  In that image, the lips a fulsome, the nails are expertly painted and the skin is silky smooth, promoting an image of achieved perfection through personal beauty, consequently leading to claims of narcissism. 

The last part of the performance is the manner of the person.  None of the selfies could be described as being formally posed, including the selfie above.  In all the images, the person appears relaxed, at ease and comfortable.  There were some elements of flexing muscles, but these were mainly isolated to selfies captured in the gym, but on the whole, the vast majority of selfies were relaxed.

This is designed, paradoxically, to give the impression of naturality, of a person who is themselves and not presenting an image.  To appear relaxed and comfortable and at ease is designed to give the impression of believability, that the person doesn’t have to force themselves in to being open and approachable.  Consequently, the image is accessible, can be engaged with by the viewer and, importantly, makes the performance connect and resonate with the viewer. 

So, the construction of a front through the use of setting, appearance and manner is designed to produce an impression fake believability.  Everyone knows that a selfie is not a realistic image, not through depiction but through content, and is guided more by how people want to be perceived and by doing so find themselves being accepted by a wider social group.