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Know Your Selfie: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Self-Sabotage

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We all have them, friends who clog our social media feeds with handheld, self-shot photos of…well…themselves. (AKA, “Selfies”). Close ups and mirror-shots of their faces, bodies, lips. To an audience member it can become quite tiresome, and it's something, as a blogger, you might want to take into consideration before you start to self-sabotage.

You would think as a community that thrives on photos and musings about our own lives, bloggers and readers of blogs wouldn't mind seeing these vanity shots on their news feeds constantly. However, with a selfie comes a kind of “show-off” quality that can leave a bad taste in the mouth of your audience.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you post that selfie:

1. Does this have artistic merit?

Are you posting that pic because you think your skin looks particularly glowing that day and you want everyone to know, or are you posting it to showcase your new eyeliner technique? If the only point of posting the photo is because you think you look fabulous, how is that inspiring to your followers?

2. Is the photo OF you or ABOUT you?

Readers want to know if you're getting creative with a new DIY or if you're at an awesome concert with friends. They don't necessarily want to see a cute expression you're making while you sit in traffic.

3. How many selfies have you shared this week?

Try pacing yourself. Of course people enjoy seeing your lovely face, but you need to leave your audience wanting more.

4. Is it a good photo?

Sure you might look great, but the photo itself should be esthetically pleasing, as should all of the photos on your blog (for optimum effect). Are the angles good? Is the lighting nice?

5. Is it tasteful?

This is a big one. Avoid overly revealing selfies. A big ole' shot of your cleavage or a closeup of a make out session you're having with your partner an image that can scare away a potential fan for good. This is not to say that provocative can't be done well. If you yearn to get risque, try to make it artistic.

Don't be discouraged if you're a self-proclaimed “selfie” lover! Cutting down on them can force you to think of other subjects to shoot, or fun ideas that are great excuses to share that lovely close-up of your face with the world!

By Ashley Randall of The Photogramps

[Image credit: Kim Kardashian's Instagram]

18 Responses

Lydia January 11, 2013

Personally I dislike selfie photos, and I see no reason for taking them.

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Nadya Helena January 11, 2013

THANK YOU! Can I say thank you again? THANK YOU. Everyone in this world should definitely see this one. It’s not just for bloggers, it’s for every human who are part of the human race in the universe. It’s really tiring to look at people’s selfie, with made up expressions and stuff like that. I definitely agree with your points, if the selfies have some useful merits or artistic quality to it, then it’s perfectly fine. The rest is history.

Nadya

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. January 11, 2013

OH YES. This post was a much needed one. I agree on all points! Too much selfies on the internet these days, and there are rarely any good! x

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Saera January 11, 2013

Agreed! There is definitely a time and a place for a selfie.

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Nasreen January 11, 2013

“a big ole shot of your cleavage” hmmm could this be a reference to Kylie Jenners profile photo on instagram…

I love this post! it’s really funny but all the points are still so true. Selfies are just too much these days

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E-von (Sewislife) January 11, 2013

This article is GOLD! Actually bloggers aren’t too bad, well the ones that I follow anyway…Facebook and Instagram are the worse! This article needs to be read by everybody.

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Anna January 12, 2013

couldn’t agree more! Selfies must have a purpose. I think I have published only 3 of them on instagram/twitter. all of them were make up related though. The first 2 were to showcase my make up (one was professionally done, the other by myself) and the 3rd one was to ask followers about my red lipstick.
So if you have something to ask or a make up technique to show, go ahead, but don’t overdo it!!

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Ashley Randall January 12, 2013

Glad to see you guys agree. The fact that people post selfies sometimes 2 and 3 times a day is fascinating to me. ha!
Ashley

www.thephotogramps.blogspot.com

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Travelle January 12, 2013

Only thing worst than a selfie–is a duck face selfie. *smh*

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- Bisous Natasha January 13, 2013
  
  Preach !!! I stopped following one girl on instagramming because every other pic was a selfie with a duck face pout.
  
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Peet January 12, 2013

I’m glad somebody said it because selfies are really taking over the internet … Although, I’m not sure that Kim K’s the best example in this case – she’s become successful via selfies.:)

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Ashley Randall January 13, 2013

Kim K is going is tooootally going to take selfies while she gives birth. I’m sure Kanye will be doing the same. ha!

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trishann January 16, 2013

I couldn’t agree more.
Instagram and Facebook, loaded with selfies are such a huge piss off these days. Why oh Why?!

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ModaVracha January 30, 2013

i dislike selfie photos,nice write-up.

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adam June 29, 2013

nothing wrong with fb or instagram, they are great tools, selfies are the major side effect of its usage. simply overconfidence with lack of understanding about common taste, art and communication.

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Samedy Hun May 23, 2014

I really hate selfie.

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Jordan June 12, 2014

I think, if we’re being honest, more than one selfie every few months makes a person look vain and immature. I’d say “fashion/makeup bloggers excluded,” but most of them actually ARE vain and immature, and the only ones who can’t see it are their fans. I try not to post more than two selfies a year – which I know might seem a bit extreme to some, but when friends and family watch a year go by in our eyes (on our Facebooks and IGs), it goes by MUCH quicker for them than it does for us – especially for those of us who don’t post stuff online every day. In other words: while it might feel to us that we hardly ever post selfies because we wait a few weeks, to everyone else it feels like all we do is post selfies. I’ve found that, since I’ve put the twice-a-year rule in place, people seem to think better of me. People compliment me more (because they don’t feel like I’m trying to suck compliments out of them with my duck lips); they don’t get irritated with me as easily; they invite me out more; they ask my opinions and engage me in intellectual conversations, etc. That’s worth the sacrifice of a few hollow “OMG ur sooooo pretty!” compliments I COULD still be getting from strangers or suck-ups if I posted selfies more often.

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