Thanks to social media and the smartphone, June 21st recognizes a form of self-portrait that couldn’t exist without them. It’s National Selfie Day!
On National Selfie Day, we are encouraged to take creative (appropriate) selfies and share them on social media.
- While the act of taking a selfie may predate social media, smartphones and the word which is now in the Oxford dictionary, the popularity of taking these self-portraits and the ability to do so has never been easier. Selfie sticks and multi-functional camera phones make it all too easy to take these kinds of photographs as well as group selfies (aka groupies).
- Women take 55.2% of all selfies.
- In 2013, Oxford Dictionaries named selfie the word of the year!
- 43 people die taking selfies every year. Between October 2011 and November 2017, at least 259 people died in 137 incidents while taking selfies globally.
- In 2014, at least 33,000 people were injured while driving while using a cell phone. What is more, 4% of all drivers have taken selfies while driving. 2017 was the deadliest, with at least 107 fatalities due to selfies, with many more getting hurt or seriously injured.
- The earliest known photographic self-portrait (selfie) was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. American photographer Robert Cornelius took a daguerreotype of himself in 1839 and even wrote on the back ‘the first light Picture ever taken.’
- According to Google, 24 million selfies were uploaded to social media in 2018.
- In a lifetime, the average millennial will take 25,000 selfies.
- Men Who Post Selfies Are More Likely To Be Narcissistic Or Psychopathic!
- When the instant Polaroid cameras arrived, more and more people began to experiment with photography as a hobby and a way of preserving certain life events. The habit even made its way into the movies, such as the 1991 film “Thelma & Louise,” where the two lead characters use a Polaroid camera to take what we now call a ‘selfie’ before embarking on a disastrous road trip.
- The Word “Selfie” Was Actually Invented By A Drunk Man in 2002. In Australia, Sept. 13, 2002, in an internet forum there appeared the following post by Nathan Hope: “Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer (sic) and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.”
- Mr. Hope however denied coining the term, claiming it was a common slang. Over the years, linguists have analyzed this phenomenon and pointed out that it is a typical feature of the Australian language to shorten words and end them with “ie,” citing how “barbeque” and “postman” become “barbie” and “postie” respectively in local usage.
- Yes, there is such a thing as a selfie addiction. It’s described as the “obsessive compulsive desire to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media as a way to make up for the lack of self-esteem and to fill a gap in intimacy.” The American Psychiatric Association has it categorized into three easy-to-remember levels: borderline (3 selfies a day), acute (at least 3 selfies a day) and chronic (posting up to 6 or more selfies a day).
- The first recorded selfie dates back to 1524—not digital of course! Titled “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” the Italian renaissance artist Parmigianino used a convex mirror to paint himself, only flipped.
- It was former American astronaut Buzz Aldrin who took the first out-of-this-world selfie in 1966 during the Gemini 12 mission.
- #selfie remains as the official label and link for people to tag their digital self portraits. The first use of the hashtag goes back to January 16, 2011, in a photo uploaded by Jennifer Lee on Instagram.
- Scrabble players rejoice! As of 2014, the word selfie officially became accepted for use in the much-loved word game.
- Google statistics tell us that, solely on Android devices, there are an astounding 93 million selfies taken every day. If you do the math, that’s approximately 64,583 photos per minute.
- Only 4% of photos found on social media actually qualify as selfies.
- Most selfie-takers are of the average age of 23.6 years old.
- Makati City is the “Selfie Capital of the World.” TIME magazine built a database of over 400,000 photos captioned with “#selfie.” They ranked 459 cities based on this database and found that Makati City in the Philippines had the most selfies. According to TIME, there are 258-selfie takers every 100,000 people in Makati. Manhattan and Miami follow closely behind.
- 68% of people who take selfies admit to editing their photos.
- #Selfie was used as a hashtag first in Flickr in 2004, far before Facebook, Instagram or even iPhone 4.
- 92 million selfies are taken every day, accounting for 4% of all the photos taken (2.3 billion) daily.
- Individuals spend 54 hours a year (or 7 minutes a day) taking selfies.
- People smile in 60% of selfies.
- The Eiffel Tower is the most popular destination for selfies.
- 52% of adults have never taken a selfie,
Sources:
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
