The rise of the selfie

By
Roger Sanchez
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577

Ellen DeGeneres tweeted a selfie with some Hollywood a-listers at the Oscars last night and it was retweeted more than two million times.

But just how did the selfie trend come about, which now has celebrities across the globe joining the trend.

The definition of “SELFIE: A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website: ‘Occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself everyday isn’t necessary.’“

According to National Geographic Daily News, “When the magisterial Oxford English Dictionary crowned “selfie” the word of the year in 2013, it only affirmed what anyone with a smartphone has known since the first photo with the hashtag selfie was posted on January 16, 2011: Self-documentation has gone viral.”

Selfie Since then, the term has taken the world by storm, based on the amount of selfies that have been posted to social media.

Oxford Word Blog wrote, “Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002, when it was used in an Australian online forum. The word gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph. Oxford wrote, “Language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors reveals that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by 17,000% since this time last year.”

Now that’s a alot of selfies, but who else is counting. Now is the selfie is here to stay or is it just another popular trend.

The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Whether… ‘selfie’ will achieve the greatness and staying power necessary to merit an entry in the august and frighteningly comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary remains to be seen. But there’s time: The third edition of the OED, which was originally expected to be completed by 2010, may not be ready for 20 years, its editor has said.”

CNN Living said Oxford proclaimed selfie a real English-language word and gave it a place in the dictionary — but that was merely a stepping stone to lingual infamy.

“Selfie” beat out seven competitors, including “twerk,” “schmeat” (synthetically produced meat) and “bitcoin” for the Word of the Year crown.

CNN Living says selfie “has spawned herds of images on social media. There are 57 million photos bearing its hashtag — #selfie — on Instagram alone.” “Selfie” is not slouching on its throne, Oxford says of its word of the year.

In the end why have someone take your picture when you can do it yourself?

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