Selfie-steem

The day seemed like one of those days when birds might burst into song, and the air was positively humming with good vibes. You had have a big presentation coming up, and you dressed up nice. In fact, you were wearing a shirt you don't wear on ordinary days.

In short, you felt fuckin great.

This calls for a selfie.

***

I don't know why some people take offense against selfies. Considering the guy who wrote this is a promoter himself, he should know better than to speak ill against shamelessness and self-promotion. Unless, if we are to believe him, he sees no value in shameless self-promotion... well then, that speaks volume about the kind of service his clients can expect of him.

Anyway, I think what he wrote is bullshit. Here's why:

1.) Selfies are good for self-esteem. When you post selfies, and your supportive friends like it, you immediately feel gratified, your self worth gets a boost. In the age of distrust--when the poster boy next door is a marathon bomber, when the authority figure is a sex offender, when bullies are as vicious online as they are away from their computers-- a little daily dose of niceness is welcome. What's wrong with spreading the positive vibe around? Liking someone's selfie is the digital version of smiling back at strangers. It doesn't hurt anyone, and it makes everyone's day somewhat brighter.

2.) Positive outlook is good for productivity. When you post selfies and people like it, you feel empowered. You feel good about yourself. A positive comment about your outfit of the day will give you that boost of confidence to nail that tricky client presentation. Maybe you're dealing with a lot lately, but you still managed to force a smile for a selfie.... people liking that selfie tells you it's OK, you can soldier on.

3.) Shameless Self Promotion. In the age where content is king, everyone can use a lesson in branding. By regularly posting selfies, you are never off the people's imagination. Your face is always top of mind. Why should you wait for other people to upload your digital likeness when you can be in total control of your digital content and post your selfies? Trust me, I'm the guy who had to upload gigabytes of self-tagged photos just to bury a couple of embarrassing naked photos. You have to be in control of what get's online, and what keeps forgotten in your desktop folders.

4.) Selfies send a positive image about how we define "beautiful". For the longest time, people have been complaining about the imposition of the anorexic blonde girl as the standard of beauty. Attempts to put plus-sized women of different age and color on beauty magazines have been applauded and cheered. Now, selfies take that on step further. Now that everyone's armed with the capability to publish and publicize their own digital contents, everyone's part of the dialogue. What's beautiful? we ask. Selfies are. As we continuously pose and post photos, we continuously define and redefine what we think is beautiful. The fact that people LIKE selfies that are far from cover girl material is a great testament to how we are veering away from one standard of beauty, and owning the concept, instead, to define who we think we are.

So, excuse me while I take this selfie.