After reading the passage below, answer the questions that follow. Be sure to "submit" your response for each question. You will initially receive full credit for each question, but your grade may change once your instructor reviews your responses. Be sure to check the grade book for your final grade.
Who I Am: Selfies as Visual Conversation, Self-Promotion, and Identity
Sharing “selfies” (photos of yourself using the camera on your mobile phone) is a popular phenomenon on social media. But isn’t sharing pictures that we have taken of ourselves a bit narcissistic? Research suggests that there are many reasons we take and share selfies — to include family and friends in our lives, to improve self-esteem, to curate our image (and in some cases our brand), and to document our life stories (Diefenbach & Christoforakos, 2017). Selfies are a “visual conversation” with others and serve as an important part of the language of relationships (Katz & Crocker, 2015). Selfie-sharers give consideration to the platform (disappearing images in a Snapchat or Instagram story versus lasting memories on Instagram’s grid) as well as to how the photo might come across to the people receiving it. They are aware of the potential for appearing vain, and so there must be a careful balance between trying to look good while not trying to look self-absorbed (as seen by the “felt cute might delete later” meme). The most valued selfies tend to be ones that tell a story about someone’s life events and contexts rather than just emphasize the person’s own face or body (Katz & Crocker, 2015).
In addition to maintaining personal relationships, selfies are an important way to express identity and build community. Research shows that people take selfies to say something about who they are, including their multiple identities involving friendship groups, race, gender, and sexual orientation (Barker & Rodriguez, 2019). Researchers argue that potentially marginalized groups can use selfies as a positive way to present their group to others, and feel a sense of affirmation, connection, and empowerment. This goes against the perception that taking selfies is a frivolous, narcissistic practice with little meaning or value (Barker & Rodriguez, 2019, p. 1158).