Selfies and sharing

I've just seen a headline on a woman's magazine: 'Look Great in Selfies'! Heavens, whatever for? It enrages me. Surely 'selfies' means taking photographs of yourself by yourself. Whatever for? You can look in the mirror. That's you. Why do you look in the mirror? To see if you've brushed your hair and remembered to put on the sun-tan protection cream. That's practical.

Photographs are for remembering a happy or memorable occasion. They're for sharing precious moments: weddings, graduations, communions, Bar Mitzvah, winning prizes, and so on. Some might say that the whole purpose of life screams out for sharing. Why is seeing a film on your own with no one to discuss it with afterwards so ordinary? Why do we love being part of an audience? Because we're sharing an experience, even if our companion is the only one by our side we know. It's a group experience.

On Facebook, one can choose a 'selfie' to be for public or friends' use. Getting the right angle to avoid any possibility of a double chin or a strained neck, even with a 'selfie stick' - or so I'm told - is complicated. So is putting on a pout, a seductive, would-be-passionate, dramatic, tragic, any staged look. Not to mention the artificiality in all of this, which is doubtfully of any interest to anyone. Your friends can see you as you are in any normal photograph. Is a photo of you taken by you any more special? The superficiality would surely make them laugh! If a 'selfie' is for you to look at yourself why not look in the mirror? That's you. It seems to me that 'selfies' have taken us to the ultimate in true egocentricity, even cultural degeneracy. Comments welcomed.