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Dublin: 9 °C Tuesday 19 March, 2024
not a selfie

Explainer: When is a selfie not a selfie?

IT’S ONLY A SELFIE IF YOU TOOK IT YOURSELF!

South Korea Pope Ahn Young-joon Ahn Young-joon

PEOPLE, THE WORD ‘selfie’ is now in the dictionary, so you have no excuse.

The official definition is:

An image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera.

Let’s examine the most important word here: oneself.

IT’S ONLY A SELFIE IF YOU TOOK IT YOURSELF!

IT’S ONLY A SELFIE IF SOMEONE IN THE PICTURE TOOK THE PICTURE*!

*Although technically a group selfie is an ‘usie’. But that’s a preposterous word. Therefore we will allow the definition of ‘selfie’ to include duo or group photos, but only if the person taking the picture is in the picture

This is a selfie

5xZ490O Imgur Imgur

This is not a selfie

The fuck are you? (not a selfie) Imgur Imgur

This is a selfie

goat @GerryAdamsSF @GerryAdamsSF

This is not a selfie

nota @RobertKessler @RobertKessler

This is a photo of a person (Miguel Angel Jimenez) taking a selfie

Miguel Angel Jimenez Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO

This is a photo of a group of people (members of the Ireland Women’s Rugby Squad) taking a group selfie

Vikki McGinn, Jenny Muphy, Niamh Briggs and Lynne Cantwell Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

And this is a photo of someone taking a selfie with Enda Kenny

enda1 Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

And here is that selfie

alan-10-500x500 Alan O'Donovan Alan O'Donovan

Got it?

We’re not the only ones perplexed by this apparent wilful refusal to acknowledge a true selfie:

There is a Twitter account called Not a Selfie which appears to have been started with the aim of policing selfie ignorance across the internet.

Disappointingly, it has only lashed out twice.

selfie

We need more people out there, fighting the good fight, spreading the world about what does or doesn’t constitute a selfie.

Are you with us?

Liza Minnelli trying to get into the Oscars selfie is heartbreaking>

Two lads were caught sneaking a selfie at the Miss Bikini Ireland photo shoot in Dublin

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