TrendsSelfie: invasion of the duck face, sparrow face and fish gape

Selfies are a worldwide phenomenon, sometimes also quite embarrassing. Yes, there is something about it that is irritating, starting from the fact that the word selfie is too broad and includes too many pictures.
Accademia della Crusca, the Italian academy that makes decisions with regards to the Italian language, mentions that we are in a moment of uncertainties when it comes to grammar, because mankind started to use this word as a synonym of photography and self – timer photos.
In 2013, the word selfie was elected “word of the year” by the Oxford Dictionaries and defined as “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”.
A photo then. This should take away all doubts about the genre of the word selfie but in Italy (since articles work differently) the masculine genre is much more used and common when used with the English word that contains the word “self”.

Selfie, I take it so I share it

Besides the fascinating grammar issue, selfie is commonly known as a self – taken picture realized with a digital instrument and then posted on social media. Sharing is the key, because an unshared selfie is just a self-timer photo. For this, as a study conducted by Koreans and Brazilians demonstrated, the amount of selfies on Instagram increased 900 times more from 2012 to 2014.
Another study, conducted by researchers from Cattolica and Bicocca Universities, focuses more on the psychological aspect: they tried to understand why we take selfies, if there are differences between men and women and what kind of personality do Selfists have. Both studies showed that young women are the ones taking more selfies, which are taken to be appreciated on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Who posts a selfie on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter hopes to receive positive comments and, at the same time, is afraid of negative ones, especially if they come from close friends.
Starting from this consideration, it is hard to understand why phenomenon such as duck face, sparrow face and the latest fish gape face exist.

Selfie, beyond duck face

When duck, sparrow or fish faces are not enough, we are so creative that we create even better ideas: selfies on the railway, or next to a bear. Moreover, don’t think that that the railway is not in use anymore or that that bear is in a cage, because the railways are perfectly functioning and the bear is very much a freely roaming bear.
Taking a selfie has become risky business: Let’s say that you are travelling and you have different connections to take, well say goodbye to the important meeting you are headed to: people need to take a selfie first!
Again, if you are a bear, in a reserve because you risk extinction, the last thing you want is a human taking a selfie next to you and your cubs. Of course, it will make you nervous, and after your reaction to the selfist who, in the meantime, has stopped to set up filters on the phone, you definitely will die.
Late trains arrivals and bear extinction are serious problems!
Save a bear and help commuters: go back to your house and start populating you social page with selfies taken in the bathroom!