Kim Kardashian declares selfies officially over… we ask whether self-portrait pictures are dead
Our Fab Daily editor celebrates the end of the craze, while UK Selfie Queen Karen Danczuk believes it's not finished yet
SELFIES are officially over – according to Kim Kardashian.
The 36-year-old Queen of Selfies was asked whether she would rather never post another photo of herself or not use Snapchat again.
She replied with the former, adding: “Selfies are kind of a few years ago.”
Searches for the term on Google have been on the decline in recent months.
So Kim – whose book Selfish is full of pictures of herself – could be right and we have grown bored of the social media trend.
But not everyone is happy about it.
Here, Fabulous Daily Editor JOELY CHILCOTT celebrates the end of the craze while KAREN DANCZUK, the former wife of Labour MP Simon whose profile was raised thanks to her love of selfies, believes it is not dead yet.
YES
Says Joely Chilcott, Fabulous Daily Editor
SO, selfies are finally on the way out – and I couldn’t be happier.
For years my Instagram feed has been full of friends posting heavily edited close-ups in a bid to build up their likes.
There’s no denying that’s great for their self-esteem, but come on. We all know selfies aren’t real.
Thanks to apps that can smooth, tweak and filter your photos to within an inch of their lives, it’s rare to find a selfie that is truly original – and most are unrecognisable.
And then there’s the heart-crushing reality... what happens if your selfie get no “likes”?
The selfie culture on social media is a narcissistic trend fuelled by self-obsession, and it has put huge pressure on men and women to look a certain way.
These often-edited pictures were deemed responsible for a spike in depression and anxiety in a study by the NHS last year.
And I’m not surprised.
I have spent hours scrolling through social media looking at beautiful faces while I am sitting in my pyjamas with greasy hair, feeling ugly.
But we shouldn’t look for acceptance via the amount of “likes” we get on Instagram or Facebook.
I admit that during the “peak selfie” craze of 2014, I dabbled. But after wasting way too much time trying to perfect angles and lighting, I soon realised that my inner Kardashian was never to be.
And who would want to see my face, all three chins and no neck anyway?
Kylie Jenner once said that it takes her around 500 attempts to get the perfect selfie. I don’t have the time or energy to be that vain.
I have now come to pity those who take lonesome selfies. It all just feels a bit desperate.
Somehow, asking a friend to take a picture of me feels normal but turning the camera on myself feels arrogant.
Looking at myself on my camera phone for that long means I notice all my imperfections, whereas a couple of snaps with someone else looking down a lens means I take in the picture as a whole with less emphasis on my eye bags.
I also blame selfies for the “duck face”. Pouting into the camera has become an expression synonymous with the social media craze. What happened to smiling?
There is a difference, however, between an individual selfie and a group selfie.
Get some friends in a shot with me then I am happy. A shot of us all pulling stupid faces and I am ecstatic – because if I’m supposed to look silly or have mates to accompany me, then people will laugh WITH me.
If I suddenly post a selfie on my own trying to look cool then people might laugh AT me. And that’s just too much of a risk.
So I say RIP to the selfie and roll on a less selfie-indulgent craze.
NO
Karen Danczuk, UK Selfie Queen
LONG live the selfie, I say. If Kim Kardashian wants to hand over her Selfie Queen crown, I’ll gladly take it.
By the way, she might want to tell her sisters that the selfie is supposedly over because it doesn’t look like they got the memo.
I’m pretty sure Kim has her reasons for saying this, but I imagine as usual it’s all part of the Kardashian agenda.
But here’s why I don’t agree.
For a start, people have always liked taking pictures of themselves.
It’s just that we used to do it by holding a disposable camera at arm’s reach, and discovering we had only captured the top of our head when it came back from Boots.
Technology has enabled us to be part of the picture, and I can’t see why we would ever stop now.
Mums in particular used to be the worst. They would take plenty of photos of their kids but there would be no record of them.
Now kids are growing up with a lifetime of memories of their parents in photos with them, and that’s priceless.
For me, the selfie changed my life. I’ve got no intention of biting the hand that fed me, unlike Kim K, whose career was also built on the craze.
I went from being a fairly unknown councillor who was married to former MP Simon Danczuk to appearing in all these photoshoots and magazines.
I went on Bear Grylls’ The Island because of selfies. The reason I started taking them was because I wasn’t feeling that great about myself.
I didn’t feel beautiful but suddenly, people started telling me that I was and that was a huge confidence boost.
I know now it was a bit of a cry for help, and as I started losing weight and feeling better about my body, I would post my progress selfies on Twitter, feeling like I’d achieved something.
Selfies are great for motivation. I’m focused on getting in shape again now, and I’ve taken a “before” selfie so I can see how far I’ve come.
But that one’s just for my private album at the moment, because there’s no rule to say selfies have to be shown to the world.
The only thing I don’t like is people Photoshopping. The whole point of a selfie should be to be honest about who you are.
I love the fact people post pictures of their stretch marks or their wobbly bits.
It’s brilliant for promoting positive body image and saying, “Hey, we’re not all skinny models, but we’re all beautiful”.
The selfie is also brilliant for celebrity fans. When famous folk post selfies, we feel like we’re part of their world.
They are much more personal than a staged photoshoot.
I love Katie Price’s selfies because they show her normal life, with dishes in the sink and a home that looks lived in.
The selfie has also been used for good causes, like the No Make-Up Selfie, which raised £8million for cancer research.
Whatever Kim K thinks I’m sure the selfie is here to stay.
