Oxford Dictionary:
Selfie
A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.
What used to be our dirty little secret has gone viral.
2013 was undoubtedly THE year of the selfie and we can only expect more from this much loved, much loathed social trend.
Here at idig, we wanted to know why everyone is so obsessed with these things. It’s a weird concept if you think about it – taking a photo of yourself (often sporting the classic “duck face”) and then posting it online.
We decided to do a little research and found some pretty interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about selfies:
- A 21-year-old Australian man is credited for inventing the term selfie after a drunken accident in 2002. He posted the photo and message below in an online forum.
Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.
- The first recorded use of the hashtag #selfie on Instagram was in 2011 by American life and business coach, Jennifer Lee – on the same day Instagram first introduced hashtags.
- The hashtag #selfie has been used over 57 million times on Instagram.
- Usage of the word in the English language has increased 17,000% since the previous year.
- Selfies are most popular in Australia, followed by the U.S. and Canada.
- The word selfie was named among Time Magazine’s Top 10 Buzzwords in 2012 and then named Word of The Year by Oxford Dictionary in 2013.
- Kendal Jenner tops the list of celebrities who post the most selfies – with a whopping 451 photos.
