Self-involved Kids? Grandmas Are Taking Selfies Too

 

Grandma’s Duck Face: 4 Percent of Silent Generation Take Selfies

A Pew Research survey revealed that “selfies,” photographic self-portraits usually taken with a smartphone, are not limited to the allegedly attention-seeking millennials who many are so eager to shake their heads at.

According to the survey, about a third of the Silent Generation (also known as the “Lucky Few”, Silents were born between 1925 and 1942) have said they know what a selfie is, and about 4 percent have shared one on social media.

Why? For the same reason anyone shares a selfie: for attention, but not necessarily for egocentric ends.

The oft dubbed “selfie king” James Franco wrote that self-portraits are his most popular Instagram post. For him, as a celebrity, this is because people are interested in seeing a glimpse of famous peoples’ private lives, but in general, the selfie might simply be an effective means of communication.

“Of course, the self-portrait is an easy target for charges of self-involvement,” wrote Franco, “but, in a visual culture, the selfie quickly and easily shows, not tells, how you’re feeling, where you are, what you’re doing.

“[…] In our age of social networking, the selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, ‘Hello, this is me.’”

Not only are silents posting selfies, but some are majorly #WINNING the social media game, like @baddiewinkle, an octogenarian who claims to have been “stealing your man since 1928” who has more than 425,000 followers.

So while more than half of millennials have admitted to posting a selfie on social media, they certainly aren’t the only ones going viral.

That’s right. Your grandma might also know how to make the duck face — and she just might get more likes than you, too.

What do you think, are selfies the mark of self-obsession or a tool of self-expression? Let us know in the comments below!

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