So Long Selfies

So Long Selfies, by Kandace Brown (guest blogger)

We are living in a generation of young people that is all about taking and uploading selfies for the world to see. For those who might not know what a selfie is here is the dictionary meaning of the word, "A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website". 

I have come to realize over the last few months how "selfish" selfies truly can be... It's almost like we are saying "Look at me. I look good today so I want everyone on Facebook or Instagram to see it." I am not pointing fingers because I have taken and uploaded selfies before. This is something that I have recently felt convicted about. 

If you think about it selfies can be very narcissistic and prideful. I know girls who post two or three a day. What is this saying? What are we trying to say or show off? Why should we find value in ourselves by how many people like our picture? Why should we feel upset when we don't get as many likes as we hoped for? These are questions that I have recently asked myself. 

Selfies are mostly a girl thing (although I do know a few guys who post them)... Coming from personal experiences I know that we girls will take dozens of pictures of ourselves when we feel that we look good or we like our outfit. When we finally take one that we think looks good enough we will then doctor it up (with an Instagram filter or an editing app or whatever we choose to use) and then we post it. Then we wait.... We wait to see who will like it and how many likes we will end up getting. It can easily set up jealousy in a girl's heart. She could see that her friend got 80 likes for her selfie and that she only got 25 for hers. She could start wondering why people liked her friend's picture more than hers or think that she just isn't as pretty or stylish as her friend. As silly as it may sound it can begin stirring feelings of bitterness or consternation in a girl's heart. It will start to make her self value deflate rapidly and that can lead to many problems... 

There are also girls who can develop the opposite problem. When they get many likes and comments about how beautiful they are it can be the beginning of a pride issue. They can begin thinking they are better than other girls and start posting more and more pictures because they get addicted to that feeling of being "liked". All girls need a flattering comment every once in a while and when you can post a picture of yourself and get dozens of likes and flattering comments then girls will naturally be drawn to that. Pride is very hard to break once it has been set in the heart of someone. It is so important that we don't become obsessed with the comments and likes of something as seemingly harmless as a picture we took of ourselves. 

I feel that selfies are hurting our generation more than we know. They can become a sign of vanity and as we all know vanity can lead to many bad things. (Proverbs 16:18) So as the title says, I have decided to say so long to selfies. Yes, I have taken them and posted them before, but my eyes have been opened to how very harmful and pointless they can be. This will, of course, sound strange coming from a 16 year old girl, but this is my heart and I wanted to share my recent conviction on the matter. Just thoughts to ponder. :)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4