It’s All About the Selfie…

Selfies are everywhere. The first selfie dates back to 1839, “snapped” by Robert Cornelius of Philadelphia. Today, more than 93 million selfies are taken worldwide each day, and in the last year alone, the term “selfie” was mentioned over 154 million times across social media channels (according to Google and Sysomos, respectively).

According to a new report from Coyne PR, popular photo messaging apps like Snapchat support this selfie saturation. The app gives users a platform to easily and quickly share over 400 million photo “snaps” per day. Five percent of all selfies shared on social media are taken and sent via Snapchat. They’ve become a part of everyday life, inspiring academic studies, cultural trends, memes, news, college courses and products.
 
“Selfies as a mode of communication have saturated our society,” said Marie Baker, vice president of Social Media at Coyne. “It’s vital that we dissect and understand their role in popular culture and apply that knowledge to building effective brand communication strategies.”  

The agency’s influencer panel survey found that more than 50 percent of respondents still enjoy seeing selfies in their social media feeds and more than 85 percent engage in this behavior themselves, with the majority posting a selfie once a week on their social media channels. Facebook and Instagram came in first and second as the favored platforms. Of the nine percent of respondents who don't post selfies, their main reason was purely because they’d rather post pictures of something else.
 
The selfie is here to stay. Researchers are now looking at how selfies are connected to attitudes, characteristics and other psychological behaviors. College courses in London and Boston now explore the artistic production, psychology, and societal impact of the selfie.