Lee Suckling: How to tell if you're sharing too many selfies

Everyone knows you took 80 pictures to get that good one, writes Lee Suckling. Photo / 123RF

Avoid self-indulgent displays playing yourself up, writes Lee Suckling.

"Believe me, many more people will see that selfie once I share it that will listen to this speech." It's an almost shocking indictment of our attention spans. It's made worse when you know the context was El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele justifying why he had prioritised a selfie at the podium over the United Nations General Assembly about to listen to him in September last year.

The president's point, though, is in tune with what current social media trends are showing. The average person takes more than 450 selfies a year, according to a study by smartphone company Honor. More specifically, the study suggest the British take some of the most: 468 photos of themselves per year. It sounds like a lot, but think about how many people you see taking one or two selfies a day. It adds up quickly.

In December 2019's Democratic Party primary debate in California, one of four leading candidates, Elizabeth Warren, proudly flexed her social media prowess by announcing she was homing in on 100,000 selfies as proof her presidential campaign is doing things differently. In fact, 100,000 selfies was Warren's proof that she had split with a long tradition of playing to millionaire donors for support, preferring grass-roots support.

Senator Warren may be disappointed then to learn a Washington State University study found that posting selfies on social media won't make you as "liked" as photos taken by others. Suddenly the senator's blurry one-armed snaps are not as likely to please her audience as rival presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg's shots from the crowd.

The Washington State University psychologists who conducted the aforementioned study found that individuals who post a lot of selfies are viewed by their Instagram-based study group as less likeable, less successful, more insecure, and less open to new experiences. The researchers went as far to note that the same achievement or travel experiences expressed through a selfie (rather than a photo taken by someone else) were viewed noticeably more negatively.

In a second study with University of Southern Mississippi researchers, data indicated that selfie-posters were considered more lonely, less outgoing, and less adventurous. Most notably there was a correlation between selfie-posters and dependability as a good friend. Evidently if you trust someone else with your phone and with taking your photo, you seem like a better person.

So, if 100,000 selfies won't make you popular, what are they good for?

Perhaps the question is better framed in terms of intent. Is your selfie just proof you were on a beach in Bali? This may fall flat. Travelling isn't about cataloging sites everyone else has seen. Is your selfie to ensure everyone you're with is in the photo like Ellen DeGeneres' Oscars selfie? Then you're more likely to convey the attributes the Washington State University study was describing. Travel and life are about the people you met and the adventures you have.

If millennials value experiences over consumer goods, then it is probably not surprising that people's ability to evaluate photos is oriented off how many experiences a selfie displays. When considering awkwardly stiff selfies in front of French monuments versus spontaneous selfies with your three besties at a barbecue in Whangamata, the latter is always likely to be more relatable.

I begin to wonder, if you're already in the 450-a-year selfie-poster category, what can you do to reduce them?

My tips: avoid self-indulgent displays playing yourself up. Gym selfies of your big arms in the mirror at a late hour of the night should be avoided. Everyone knows you took 80 pictures to get that good one where your biceps are bulging."#NoFilter" shots of you after two hours of makeup tutorial should probably be avoided as well. Nothing makes the eyes roll like a no-filter selfie where it's evident a professional make-up artist has been at work. And if you only post selfies as you leave the house for the clubs, people will assume you never get there, even if your fish lips pout is perfectly unchanged as weeks pass.

There are too many selfies in the world that tell no stories, and give no insight into who you are. Take fewer than 450 per year, people, and ensure the photos you take to document your life are realistic moments of fun with friends and family.