Of the Narcis-Selfies Among Us

CEBU, Philippines - Non-stop selfies of duck faces, lips on a pout resembling one about to take a smoochie, and fingers on a V-sign flood social media feeds every day, making the act look normal. But what happens when the motive for taking some cutie mug shots is to seek compliments?

This compulsion to repeatedly take a picture of one's self and scatter these on various photo-sharing sites is described as a "cultural touchstone." But would you have the tolerance to skim through 29 photos that all look the same?

I have encountered youngsters who are fond of doing so and I can't help wonder whatever happened to creativity. For example, why don't they trying morphing their photos? That would be more fun to watch, for sure.  Or they can try cos-playing, as it's obvious that they love doing so - different costumes every few pictures. They can change their hairdo and makeup too. They can wear dreads in shot number one and end in a pixie by the 29th. Or they may be in Tuguegarao in picture number one and be in Bongao in the 29th. That would certainly be exciting, not disgusting.

There is a clinical term for how obsessed a person is with his or her looks. It's narcissism. It's a personality disorder. Collective-evolution.com warns that "harmless as these acts all seem, these build up over time to create false sense of confidence. Instead of being okay with who we are no matter what, we strive to find the right picture [of ourselves] with all the perfect details."

The more "Likes" we get on the social media, the happier we feel. But how sustainable would that happiness be just by basing it on selfie pic-formance. What happens when pictures involving 200 prior experimental shots to find the perfect angle, as well as filtering, go unappreciated?

Says media psychologist/blogger Dr. Pamela Rutledge in Psychology Today, narcissism (being obsessed with receiving recognition and gratification from one's looks, vanity, and in an egotistical manner) is becoming a big problem in our digital age.

"Taking too many selfies could be a sign of generational narcissism. Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't specter of either narcissism or very low self-esteem," explained Rutledge who sits as director of the Media Psychology Resource Center in Newport, California.

So those who are into the practice may need to rethink now before they #selfie, #me. (FREEMAN)