Aileen Clarke- Rethinking a selfie

I personally did not like reading this article very much. I found the paper to go from one topic to a completely different one without much of a transition and therefore found it hard to follow. I did like the description about selfies being a hybrid of visual imagery due to the distance between the person and the camera. I did not think about how it was different from the normal relationship of photographer to the photographed. I did not agree with what the author was saying about selfies being looked at more frequently from the "others" group rather than the standard American man. Because then later the author argues how "real men" do not take selfies. Overall I felt like the argument about narcissistic ideals and such was over the top. I understand that in the American culture, people take a ton of selfies and yes some people are obsessed with looking good. But not everyone is like that and some people just take funny selfies to send to their friends. With the technology today, it is just another form of communication. People who did not grow up with the use of technology the way it is used today, may look down on it and have more of an issue, but it is just apart of the culture in our society. When the author mentioned a s selfie telling a narrative, I could relate to that because when you look back at a selfie you took from a while ago, it usually sparks a memory from that day just as another photo would. I agreed with the author when they said selfies "allow individuals to insert their own meaning into photographs". Because instead of waiting for someone to capture what you want, you can just do it your self. I do not really understand why there are so many critics and criticism of selfies. I do not know why anyone would care that much to argue over it. It is just another social trend just as other things were once before. With more advance technology, many things are evolving from what they once were. This includes photographs and the way they are being not only taken, but who their taking by and why they were taken. When the author included the meme about "dumb selfie anonymous" I found that to be a little ridiculous. I understand the author is pointing out that people are taking selfies all the time and too much, but I personally do not think the problem is with the way people are taking photos. I think the author could argue people are on their phones too much and therefore obsessed with documenting their lives as if they are on a reality tv show, but I do not think selfies is the problem here. I think that is just a side effect of a bigger problem. I probably would not recommend this article to anyone because I did not find the information that interesting and clear.