Part 1: The Selfie and the Looking Glass Self

The ubiquitous selfie has apparently spread throughout our culture in this digital revolution.  They appear everywhere on social media such as Facebook and Instagram and X, formally known as Twitter.  With the selfie permeating throughout our digital culture, it becomes easy to dismiss the image as just a photograph representing the digital presence of a person, a face to attribute to the postings on social networks.  But there is more to the selfie than being just a vain image of a person applying too many filters, but instead can show how our sense of identity is influenced by what other people think.

From the very beginning, the selfie was created for social media.  The term itself originated as being “selfy” in 2004 on the website Flickr, and then morphed into becoming the more familiar word selfie when it was adopted by the wider social media network.  Also, the first definition to appear was in the Urban Dictionary and was described as being a “self-portrait taken by teen girls”. (Shah & Tewari, 2016).  However, if this was an accurate definition then the haunting photographs of Francesca Woodman would be classed as selfies, even though they have none of the stylistic shallowness or alleged narcissism. 

Probably the best way to describe a selfie is with an example.  Above we have a selfie, just a random image pulled from a search on google.  The striking elements of the photograph are the informality of the posing, the jaunty angle for the viewer and appearing happy, carefree and relaxed.  There is no formality to the image but instead ensures that the person is depicted in a positive way.  The image can be summed up as a feel-good expression, that life is good and I am enjoying it.  Indeed, if the image created a sense of existential angst or foreboding, it would be difficult to label the photograph as a selfie because happiness and optimism are as much part of the definition of the selfie as the person appearing in them. 

This leads to the question, why?  Why does the selfie have to appear happy and relaxed, and why is that so important to its definition? 

The answer to this question lies partly in why the selfie was created.  The selfie first appeared in 2004 to be used for the social media site Flickr as an image to represent the person posting their photographs.  So, right from its inception, the selfie had a social aspect and was specifically created to be viewed by other people.  This meant that the selfie would not be a private image, something that would only be seen either by the photographer and their close acquaintances, but was always meant for public consumption.  Consequently, this would always influence what the photograph captured.

It is at this point that the Looking Glass Self theory becomes important.  The theory itself originates from Sociology and was first proposed by Charles Cooley in 1902 and has projected it’s influence over that science throughout the 20th century.  The theory itself can be summarised in three simple steps, which are:

1.     How we imagine we look to other people

2.     How we imagine their judgements of us

3.     How we view ourselves based on those judgements

Imagine the following scenario: You are meeting a new set of work colleagues and do not know anyone that is part of the new group, so when you are introduced, you are looking for signs as to how accepting of you they are.  It could be a case that they seem open and welcoming, eager to talk to you and listen when you speak, or it could be a case that they appear to be disinterested, turn away when you are talking and don’t give you much attention.  In the first scenario you imagine that their impression of you is positive and in the second scenario you imagine their impression is negative.  This is the first step of the Looking Glass Self and is where you imagine how you appear to those people and in those scenarios it could be that you appear open and warm or cold and standoffish. 

This leads to the second step when you imagine their judgements.  The first group could be a positive judgement because of their reaction to you and they want to spend time in your company.  However, the second group could view you in a negative light and could possibly see you as a threat. 

The third step then becomes how we start to view ourselves based on those judgements.  With the first group we would start to view ourselves in a positive way, a self-affirming internal influence that could build self-belief and self-worth.  However, with the second group the impression would be much less positive and could lead to damaging the sense of self-worth and self-belief you have.  This is because you are starting to view yourself as you believe other people are seeing you.

So, when it comes to the selfie, the impression it creates becomes extremely important.  A happy, smiling expression with a carefree and relaxed pose is more likely to create a good response from someone viewing the image.  As we imagine the selfie looks welcoming to other people, we then imagine that it produces a positive judgement from them, possibly generating “likes” on social media.  Consequently, we view ourselves in a positive way, that we are a popular and likeable person because so many people have expressed through positive feedback. 

Ultimately it is about creating a positive feedback loop.  The selfie is not designed for soul searching imagery exploring the depths of someone’s inner life, that is the reserve of the self-portrait, but it is about creating a feel-good factor.  People know that a selfie is not a true and honest representation of that person, they accept the shallowness and vacuous depth of meaning, and choose to play the game of the Looking Glass Self.