Stop! Wherever you are stop what you are doing and take a selfie. Did you do it or did you feel too awkward? If you felt awkward then why did you feel that way? Was it because you are on a bus full of people? Or are you sitting in a full classroom?
As Nicola said in this week’s lecture, “the self is social”. We take photos of ourselves to be social. Just to clarify for anyone living under a rock, a selfie is “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”.
Selfies are a type of new media. “New media not only introduce new ways for us to express ourselves, but also new forms of self-awareness—new ways to reflect on who we are and how we relate to others.”
The context of selfies is central to a current heated debate. The debate focuses on the question of where it is and where it is not appropriate to take a selfie.
A recent Internet explosion revolved around a young lady named Breanna Mitchell who took a selfie at Auschwitz concentration camp — death place for nearly 1.1 million human beings. The internet explosion got so heated that Mitchell ended up getting internet death threats.
Most if not all would agree that if Mitchell was clowning around, giving thumbs up or pouting in such a somber and sacred place it would be inappropriate. But is it still inappropriate for Mitchell to take a serious selfie?
Mitchell later put up a video confessing that the photo was in honour of her father who had passed his love of World War II history on to her. It was taken on the anniversary of his death. Mitchell took a photo of herself in order to put herself in a context related to her family background. It was her way of saying “I was here Dad”.
The question is, is it appropriate to do this? I say yes! I’m not saying that I would personally do it but she has respect in the photo. She isn’t making fun of the sacred site and she has reasons for taking the photo.
We need to get used to these types as selfies as “we live in the age of the selfie”.
ellenahoban 
Interesting post Ellena, I enjoyed how you focused specifically on the context of the selfie being the cause of debate as opposed to the selfie itself. I agree with your notion that the ‘self is social’ yet I don’t feel convinced with your argument about accepting certain types of selfies, like Breanna Mitchells, purely because ‘we live in the age of the selfie’. I think that many people have the right to disagree with or not accept her selfie, we shouldn’t all be forced to mutually agree or feel the same way because it’s the ‘norm’.
However you raised some interesting thoughts! Your post helped me narrow down my own understandings of the topic so thanks!