Research Project

Selfie: An Expression of Conveying Feelings and Social Messages

Submitted to:
Dr. Nadeem Dogar
Submitted by:
Maria Saleem L1F15MSMG0009

1
 Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH PROBLEM.................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH GAP...........................................................................................................................4
PROBLEM STATEMENT..............................................................................................................4
HISTORY........................................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH............................................................................................................8
RESEARCH QUESTION...............................................................................................................9
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK....................................................................................................9
DATA COLLECTION..................................................................................................................10
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................10
FINAL PARTICIPANTS INTERVIEWS:................................................................................11
DATA ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................11
FOCUS GROUP (MALE).........................................................................................................11
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS............................................................................................................13
FOCUS GROUP (MALES).......................................................................................................13
DATA ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................14
FOCUS GROUP (FEMALE)....................................................................................................14
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS............................................................................................................17
FOCUS GROUP (FEMALES)..................................................................................................17
INTERVIEWS (MALES)..........................................................................................................18
INTERVIEWS(FEMALES)......................................................................................................22
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................24
JUSTIFICATION FOR SELECTING THESE PARTICIPANTS............................................25
FINDINGS.....................................................................................................................................25
LIMITATION................................................................................................................................26
IMPLICATIONS...........................................................................................................................27
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................27
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................28

2
 Selfie: An Expression of Conveying Feelings and Social Messages

INTRODUCTION

Regardless of the selfie turning into a trend of the 21 st century, the action of distributing and

sharing selfies with partners, colleagues and friends goes way back before the internet was even

introduced. The specific act of communicating and disclosing “Cartes De Piste” or rather small

pocket-sized picture cards, dates to the 1860s (Economist, 2014). In 1880, the photo booth was

invented and introduced to the public which interested and drew in many people to take selfies

just as they do today under a different name. In 1948, the Polaroid camera was introduced and it

was held at an arm’s length which encouraged people to take their individual photos themselves

(The Economist, 2014). The slang phrase selfie nevertheless, first emerged in 2002 in an online

column from Australia. Ever since then, the peoples’ usage of the word selfie has amplified 170

times, consequently urging the Oxford English dictionary to publicize it as Word of the Year in

2013.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

Selfie is an emerging trend and it is important that we turn our academic eye to how these

interactions are affecting social understandings (Katz & Crocker, 2015).

RESEARCH GAP

1. There is a possibility now days to research the selfie phenomenon as it is getting worldwide

attention (Williams & Marquez, 2015).

3
2. There is no literature work done on selfie phenomena with respect to Pakistan.

3. Referring to the articles that we researched all of them focused the selfie phenomenon

particularly on females and not on men (Williams & Marquez, 2015).

4. Selfie users’ style varies by cultural boundaries in terms of average age and majority gender seen

in selfies differs from one country to another (Souza at al., 2015).

PROBLEM STATEMENT

As the mobile technology advances the custom of selfies does not show any indication of

slowing down in the near future, it is becoming extremely vital that we must turn our scholarly

eye towards researching how these interfaces are upsetting the social concern of the self as well

as others and their standing in the society (Katz & Crocker, 2015).

Future research must explore the mindsets concerning the selfies posted on social networking

websites by men and women of the same race to get an enhanced understanding of the

motivation for publishing their selfies (Williams & Marquez, 2015).

We want to provide a base for studying selfie phenomena with respect to Pakistani culture. We

need to explore ‘Selfie’, a popular online phenomenon which is becoming an effective medium

of interaction that is attention grabbing and increasing in demand (Souza at al., 2015).

HISTORY

Regardless of the selfie turning into a trend of the 21 st century, the action of distributing and

sharing selfies with partners, colleagues and friends goes way back before the internet was even

introduced. The specific act of communicating and disclosing “Cartes De Piste” or rather small

pocket-sized picture cards, dates to the 1860s (The Economist, 2014). In 1880, the photo booth

was invented and introduced to the public which interested and drew in many people to take

4
selfies just as they do today under a different name. In 1948, the Polaroid camera was introduced

and it was held at an arm’s length which encouraged people to take their individual photos

themselves. The slang phrase selfie nevertheless, first emerged in 2002 in an online column from

Australia. Ever since then, the usage of the word selfie have been used frequently 170 times,

consequently urging the Oxford English dictionary to publicize it as Word of the Year in 2013

(The Economist, 2014).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Users produce content and make it accessible for assessment as well as discuss on it by the

public, or else at least their friends and followers. Likes or remarks on displays may escalate a

user's self-concept of fame (Williams & Marques, 2015).

The capability for users to amend a selfie selected by themselves are published consequently

portrays an excessively perfectionistic and satisfactory self-image of oneself (Gonzales &

Hancock, 2011).

Additional prospects of selfies as a means of interaction is to substituting or increasing ever

trendy text message (Wortham, 2013).

Pictures are considered as a key channel for communicating social information on social

networking sites (Kapidzic, 2013).

The Social Networking Sites Facebook has become global with more than billion users

internationally, 700 million of which visit the site on daily basis (Facebook, 2014). Instagram,

owned by the Facebook, accommodates over one billion photos advertised by their 200 billion

users, one-third of whom use the website numerous times a day (Instagram, 2014; Pew Internet,

5
2014), Twitter entertains over 250 million vigorous users; approximately half access the site on

daily basis, and approximately a quarter visit several times a day (Duggan & Brenner, 2013).

(Butler, 1990) proposed that gender individuality is supported by the reappearance of acts.

Gender qualities are not dramatic; they are per formative. Feminist along with masculinity are

publicly built and controlled by other members of society.

Arnett (2000) considers individuals in this age range appropriate because it marks the

developmental period of emerging adulthood in which individuals engage in their most extensive

identity exploration in relation to issues concerning appearance and body weight. According to

(Arnett, 2000), this developmental period is true for both men and women.

Selfie has become current "Pop Culture" now a days (Bennett, 2014). Men as well as women

consumed diverse strategies and language to define and examine selfies along with selfie taking;

they assumed meaning by diverse series of customs and practices.

Masculine representation compels that men maintain the signs and practices of a society. When

men neglect to follow the prospect of their peers they may be stigmatized into maintaining their

present shape. Goffman (1997) describes stigmatization as the devaluing as well as denial of

members of society. Devaluing and dismissal or societal stigma befalls when a member of

society no longer upholds a "normal form" in society. A man's performance of manhood

continuously wants the praise of other male members of society in order to be controlled and

reestablished (Goffman, 1997).

Kimmel's manhood in America: A traditional history 1997 declares that though upgrading and

hi-tech technical developments have assisted countless social alterations such as the feminist and

civil rights movement, impressions of masculine uniqueness have stayed mainly unaffected.

Masculine performance needs that men sustain the signs and practices of society. When men fail

6
to follow to the prospects of their peers, they may be stigmatized into maintaining the prevailing

shape (Goffman, 1997). Define stigmatization as the devaluation and rejection of members of

society. Encouraging remarks as well as likes can mean as an indication of regard

(Williams, Marques 2015).

It has been proposed that frequent efforts to attain "The perfect selfie can cause” uncertainty in

addition to great self-awareness. In the meantime, the lack of opinion, particularly encouraging

response on a selfie has been recommended as hypothetically risky for one's self-reliance as well

as self-esteem (Martino, 2014; Walker 2013).

The purpose of this study is to explore how female and male users identify the act of uploading

selfies as an expression of external admiration in terms of redefining beauty standards that are

reinforced in society. In addition, this study attempts to provide a foundation for understanding

the selfie phenomenon and its relationship to perceived sense of self-worth in the age group of

18-29 from the usage of social sites (Arnett, 2000).

Even though the instant progress of research concerning to behavior on social channels, the

practical research has been slow to explore and examine the self-photography (selfie)

characteristic of social media that has been a popular subject of discussion in the widespread

media as well as everyday life (Barry at al., 2015).

The future studies must examine viewpoints about selfies displayed particularly by men and

women of the similar race so that we can better hold this group’s drive for publishing selfies

(William & Marques, 2015).

PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
The purpose of this study is to explore how female and male users identify the act of uploading

selfies as an expression of external admiration in terms of redefining beauty standards that are

7
 reinforced in society. In addition, this study attempts to provide a foundation for understanding

the selfie phenomenon and its relationship to perceived sense of self-worth in the age group of

18-29 from the usage of social sites (Arnett, 2000). Pictures are considered as a key channel for

communicating social information on social networking sites (Kapidzic, 2013). Selfie has

become current "Pop Culture" now a days (Bennett, 2014). Selfies is not merely a social media

trend; selfie have become an important mean to deliver social messages created and negotiated

by the culture that produces those (William & Marquez, 2015).

RESEARCH QUESTION
 Why people are more inclined toward taking and posting selfies on social networking sites (Fox

& Rooney, 2015; William & Marquez, 2014).

 To investigate how much attention do selfies receive in terms of likes and comments and to what

extent their interactions depend on cultural boundaries (Souza at al., 2015).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Selfie  Expression of feelings.

 Convey Social message.

The conceptual frame work represents the relationship between selfie with expression of feelings

and convey social message.

Social networking websites have become an integral channel for communication and self-

expression in the lives of many (Fox & Rooney, 2015).

User generates content and makes it immediately available for critic and negotiations by the

public, or at least there friends and followers. Likes or comments on posts may inflate a user's
8
 self-concept of Celebrity. Men and women use different tactics and language to describe and

discuss selfies and selfie taking due to different set of norms and rituals. Positive comments and

likes can function as evidence of respect (Williams & Marquez, 2015).

We intend to expand our interview to more users, modifying our questions and approach insight

of our initial findings. We would like to understand to what extend the responses we found are

generalizable to other cultures, contexts, and cohorts that those we examine (Katz & Crocker,

2015).

 What: To study the collective behavior of sharing selfies on social networking sites and how

people appear in selfies and which patterns emerge from such interactions (i.e.; attention

grabbing behaviors) (Souza at al., 2015).

 Why: Online conversation and interactions now involve more images, which are naturally

attention grabbing and effective at conveying feelings (Winston, 2013).

 Why: Selfies and pictures with faces are not only self-expressions but they have become

phenomenal in grabbing attention and have settled as a ‘popular’ online practice (Souza at al,

2015).

DATA COLLECTION
Criteria for selecting sample: Taking interviews from respondents (sample size: 5 male, 5

female) by observing how much frequently they post selfies on a photo-sharing social media

platform (Barry at al., 2015).

9
METHODOLOGY

The methodology that we use is semi structure interviews. The methodology that we use is semi

structure interviews. These participants are chosen because they are actively practicing the

phenomena of taking and posting a selfie on SNS on weekly basis. The data collection was

initiated by having interviews with 3 male and 3 female participants. In addition, two focus

group (1 for male and 1 for female) was conducted with 4 participants respectively .semi

structured and open-ended questions were asked to the participants so that in depth information

and new insights about the practice of selfie phenomena can be explored.

FINAL PARTICIPANTS INTERVIEWS:

3 females (1 studying in University of Central Punjab (age 23), 1 studying in Kinnard

College(age 22) and 1 teacher of Virtual University(age25).

10
DATA ANALYSIS
FOCUS GROUP (MALE)
Category Main Sub themes
themes

Male 1. Like a memory

Age individu R1- No it gets saved automatically. I don’t have any time to delete
( 18-30) al power them.
over the R2- as soon as i upload a new selfie i forget about the previous one
images immediately and i don’t bother about what to do with it.Especially and
intentionally I have not done it to look back upon my collection of
pictures.
R3- Yes most of the times I have saved the previous ones by using SNS.
R4. Yes , I have saved my previous pictures from SNS.
Individual and Unique
R1- I believe that I will look more handsome if I capture my selfie
from the upper left side.
R2- I feel slightly comfortable while taking a selfie from the upper left
side.
R3-I take it from the upper left I will capture a very good selfie of
mine. No excellent selfie.
R4- Especially I’m more concerned about lightening issue.

Right to choose images

R1- And generally if a selfie with my friend is good then I’ll definitely
allow them to post it.
R2- I don’t have any privacy settings anyone can post the pictures because
I really don’t care.
R3-If a selfie is being taken by my friend and I don’t like it as such
because I’m not looking good in it so I’ll ask them not to post it and if they
have then ill request them to remove it.
R4- I have some security settings as well regarding my pictures in this case
my friend will have to get permission from me before posting a selfie
which I don’t want others to see.

2 .Presenting a Importance of smiling

happy and R1- Smile.
social life R2: Smile. Or hand signs of victory as they are becoming a common
trend nowadays.
R3: moderate smile
R4- I like it in a cheesy way. A Big Smile.
No sad images
R1- No!!! For this very purpose of showing that I’m sad ill post a
status instead of a sad selfie

11
 R2- not at all.
R3- never,
R4: Everyone mutually agreed that a status is to be uploaded but do
not go for posting a sad selfie.
Social lifestyle
3. The impact of R1-For the sake of social networking as well to let others know that I
the audience have visited that place as well. Doing Check-in or posting selfies.
R2- it’s not only just about saving a memory but it is more concerned
with showing off others that I have visited this good place.
R3- yes I do if it’s that sort of place. For a memory or showing it to
friends and family that I visited that place.
R4- yes one reason that I want others to know that I have gone to a
new and safe place such as when I was abroad. When I was in abroad
my mother and family used to notice that our child has reached over
there and he’s safe and sound.

The importance of comments and likes

R1: there should be some.
R2: yes definitely they are important for everyone. There should be
some. The special person who likes my selfie is a must I don’t bother
about the others. I want to convey messages to other people through
my selfies.
R3: yes they are important for everyone.
R4: yes it looks as if the message is conveyed.
Urge for Social acceptance of your identity
R1: it depends on the event like for example convocation. Everyone
was expecting that everyone would like it and there would be
comments like appreciating about the graduation etc.
R1: we like the selfies from our other accounts which don’t have any
likes. (Everyone’s laughing).
R2: I have the same answer because if the special person likes it then
I don’t really bother. I don’t expect anything then if I upload it for me.
R3: I don’t care about the likes. Even if there are no likes I have no
worries.
R3: it never happened that we wouldn’t get any likes.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
FOCUS GROUP (MALES)

Participants of focus group ( male) created that if they capture a selfie from the upper left side

along with right balance of light / brightness, they will look handsome and they might considered

it as a good selfie . All participants of focus group( male) mutually expressed selfie as a sign of

12
happiness by showing it through smile. All of the respondents expressed a negative attitude

towards displaying ”sad” images online. It was very interesting to note that all the participants

mutually expressed that they use selfie as a mode of conyeing social messages whenever they

visit a new place.

DATA ANALYSIS
FOCUS GROUP (FEMALE)

Category Main themes Sub themes

Female 1. Individual Like a memory

Age power over the R1.whenever I change the mobile I always save the data in my
( 18-30) images laptop and then I change it.
R2.Yes , I do.
R3. No, not for picture’s backup but it is a good way to save
pictures
R4.No, i dont use SNS as a backup.
Individual and unique:
R1.I usually focus on my face only. It only depends on my face
and if I think I am looking okay, I take it. I don’t take my selfie
without hijab.
R2.Yeah of course, I have got cute looks.
R3. No ,I just post it because I like it.
R4. Yeah, i dont copy others. I have my own style of taking selfie.
Right to choose images:
R1. If the first selfie is not good then I don’t take anymore selfies.
And yeah its okay with me if I am in a group photo then I allow
others to post it but not the single picture of mine. Tagging is
allowed in the group. I have no issue if someone’s posting a bad
photo of mine in a group on SNSs.
R2. Only close ones ( sister/ brother/ best friend)
R3. Yeah if they are good , I allow my friends to post them.
R4. yes, i allow my friends to post my selfie
R1.I do edit my pictures
sometimes I love editing them.
R2. Yes, I also do edit my selfies.
R3. Sometimes if needed , I edit .
R4. Sometimes i do it and some time i dont.
R1: I don’t wear makeup at all.
R2: Nooo. I am very conscious about my looks, I will edit it with
make up camera app first.

13
 R3. Yeah ,mostly my morning selfies are without make up
R4. yes i always like to post selfie without makeup cz i dont look
good in makeup.
2. Presenting a Importance of smiling:
happy and R1.I take selfies when I am smiling. I make pouts with my cousins
social life other than I don’t. Girls make pouts to look cute and sweet like my
cousin whose selfie looks better with a pout. She has a pout in
every picture.
R2. Pout!
R3. Smile
R4. While smiling
R1.I don’t post pictures without a smile. Smile is an important
element for my selfie.
R2.It looks trendy and stylish.
R3. It gives a cute look to me.
R4. To show that i am happy always.
R1.Left side pictures are better because its easier and the angle is
good but it varies sometimes. If I am going to a wedding then the
front selfie looks better and it depends upon the lighting as well.
R2.Side pose, either left or right, doesn’t matter, all mater is a
good selfie.
R3. Side pose.
R4. Looking straight in the camera.
No sad images:
R1.I don’t think about taking selfies in a bad mood. According to
me selfie taking is fun and an element of happiness.
R2. Not at all.
R3. No,because I take selfie only when I am in good mood.
R4. yeah, i post them on snap chat
R1. If somebody has posted a sad selfie, its his/her wish of posting.
I don’t comment on it.
R2:They are self addicted.
R3. They are selfie addicted.
R4. There is nothing bad in it, if you are not feeling good, u can
express it through your pictures.
R1.i don’t specify backgrounds, I prefer it according to situation
and my mood.
R2. I like wallpaper to be my selfie background .
R3. Wherever selfie looks good.
R4. In my room.
R1. I don’t post any of my selfie without hijab. I dont compromise
my personality for a selfie.
R2. I don’t post any of my selfie without a make up
R3. Which are blur or taken at an un appropriate angle.
R4. In which my face looks sooooo big.
Social lifestyle

14
 R1. I do try to take a selfie when I am with my friends, family or
relatives.
R2. To tell people that I have visited that place
R3. To tell people that I have visited that place and to have a
memory
R4.My friends.
R1. Recently I visited the friends café and yes I took one group
selfie. We took it for the sake of a memory.
R2. In washroom.
R3. Open areas, grounds, classrooms
R4. I dont take selfie to show the place indeed I take it to show my
self not the place
R1. Close friends and family( mother, father, sisters)
R2. My relatives.
R3. Relatives.
R4. Yes so that i know that other's are liking my picture
3. The impact The importance of comments and likes
of the audience R1.If I get comments then I am satisfied and I usually get a
minimum of 25-30 likes and if my selfie is good then they cross 80
likes too.
R2. Not as such.
R3. Hmm.No
R4. Yes, they are important for me
Urge for social acceptance of your identity
R1. I prefer comments. I open my account 2-3 times after posting a
selfie. I check my face book usually in the morning immediately
after waking up.
R2. Yeah ,I get curious.
R3. Most of the times, Yes
R4. No, i dont get curious.
R1.I check it 3-4 times a day, or whenever I am having free time.
R2. I check it time by time as I start getting coments and likes
instantly.
R3. Instantly .
R4. I check them once in a day.
R1.I delete the previous one due to privacy reasons and maybe the
account gets hacked or something like that. If someone’s tagged
then I leave it there.
R2. Nothing .
R3. I do nothing with them, they are kept in my account as it is.
R4. I remove them if they dont get enough likes.
R1. Friends are interested and family is very interested especially
my dad who tells me what looks good on me and what doesn’t.
R2. Stalking on other’s profiles.
R3. Stalking and watching trends and fashion
R4. I stay connected with my friends that what they are doing.

15
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
FOCUS GROUP (FEMALES)

All participants of focus group (female) created that they might edit their selfies before posting

them on social networking sites as they can look more beautiful by applying editing on them. It

was very interesting to observe that one of our focus group( female) respondent R2 seems to be

conscious about her looks as she might not post her selfie without wearing a makeup , the rest of

the respondents were not much concerned about their makeup. Respondents R1 & R2 preferred

pout as an essential element of selfie whileR3&R4 expressed smile as an essential one’. All

respondents except R4 mutually agreed of not posting a selfie showing sad expressions . The

responses regarding to an open-ended question (Q:what sort of picture they will not post?) were

mutually exclusive, every respondent expressed a different opinion such as:

R1. I don’t post any of my selfie without hijab. I dont compromise my personality for a selfie.

R2. I don’t post any of my selfie without a make up

R3. Which are blur or taken at an un appropriate angle.

R4. In which my face looks sooooo big.

It was interesting to observe that there were mutually exclusive preference of places for

capturing selfies such as:

R1. Recently I visited the friends café and yes I took one group selfie. We took it for the sake of

a memory.

R2. In washroom.

R3. Open areas, grounds, classrooms

R4. I dont take selfie to show the place indeed I take it to show my self not the place

16
It was very interesting to note that only R4 might delete those pictures of her which didn’t got

any like or comment , whereas R1 brought a new insight which was shown in her practice of

deleting the previous pictures just for the privacy concern. All the participants of focus group

( female) mutually expressed that they might use social networking sites as a medium of staying

in contact with their friends anf family members.

INTERVIEWS (MALES)

Participant: 1 Main Themes Sub Themes

Like a Memory
Yes, ultimately they get saved into my Facebook
account.
Individual & Unique
No, I take it for just the moment. A spur of the moment
Individual Power action.
Over the Image
Right to choose images
I don’t like it if someone posts it without my permission.
I simply have option of privacy and if some post, I delete
it.
No, I like to have it natural.
Importance of smiling
No, it’s just I follow the light to have a good light.
Male Age Group
(18-30) No sad images
Yes, I do post when I am in a sad mood. It’s just I want
to be myself. I don’t get into sad mood for a selfie.
They are expressing their feelings.
For me it’s like being at a new place. Background
Presenting a happy doesn’t matter much. The message is what I feel and
life having fun.
Which are mistakenly taken or not intended?
Social lifestyle
It depends when sometime is unique I will like to post it.
As it becomes like a memory.
Mostly on restaurants and spur of the moment.
One who follow my poetry and my followers as I have
many followers. The people who follow me and wants to
know what’s happening

17
 The importance of comments and likes

Yes they do matter. Especially if I want to convey some

message through my selfie & it didn't get there where it
was intended.
The Impact of the
Audience
Urge for Social acceptance of your identity

No, not really I don't really get that curious.

It depends on time when I post it. When I post it late
night it will take more time to get likes.
I don't delete or do anything with them.

Participant: Main Themes Sub Themes

2
Male Age Individual Like a Memory
Group (18- Power Over the No I don’t use SNS as a backup option for saving my selfies.
30) Image Individual & Unique
No I don't have a particular style of taking a selfie.
Right to choose images
Yes only some special people can post my selfie.
Sometimes I prefer others to take my picture.
Only a close group of friends can post my selfie online.
No i don’t take selfie when I am not dressed up.

Presenting a Importance of smiling

happy life I don't have a particular style while taking a Selfie
I usually take the right angle as It’s easier to take a selfie.
No sad images
No, I don't post selfies when i am in a bad mood.
Ones who post sad selfies are depressed & unsatisfied with their
lives.
I prefer natural background while taking selfie.
I don't post selfie in which I am not looking good.
Social lifestyle
I take a selfie while visiting a new place to save memories.
Usually in a new restaurant when we are waiting for the food.
My friends are mostly Interested in my daily activities & routine.

The Impact of The importance of comments and likes

the Audience Comments & likes are not that much important for me in my

18
 Social Networking.
Urge for Social acceptance of your identity
Sometimes I get curious when I post a selfie to have others
opinions.
I don’t do much with selfies that don't have any likes or comm6.
Usually it never happens I always get likes & comments.
No I don't get ready for a selfie; usually i get ready & then take a
selfie.
Yes I am conscious about my looks while posting a selfie.

Participant: 3 Main Themes Sub Themes

Male Age Individual Like A Memory

Group (18- Power Over the Yes I do use SNS as a tool to save my photos. They also show
30) Image you the pictures & let you know of the memories.

Individual & Unique

Yes sometimes I have my own style of taking selfie.
Right To Choose Images
No, I have privacy settings so i don't permit others to post my
selfie. Except from weddings as it is hard to ignore there.
Except from weddings as it is hard to ignore there.
Mostly no, I like to take my natural pictures.

Presenting a Importance Of Smiling

happy life Yes mostly a have a big smile.
Nothing in particular, A random angle mostly.

No Sad Images
No I don't like to post selfie when I am in a sad mood.
No I don't like to post selfie when I am in a sad mood.
I think It should be an impressive background & convey some
social message.
Social Lifestyle
Yes I like to share my experience with my friends and I like
when they appreciate it.
Usually I try to post of new restaurant and places.
I prefer girls will follow my daily routine but usually my Family
& friends.
The Impact of The Importance Of Comments And Likes
the Audience Yes they do matter. Especially if I want to convey some message
through my selfie & it didn't get there where it was intended.

19
 Urge For Social Acceptance Of Your Identity
No, not really I don't really get that curious.
It depends on time when I post it. When I post it late night it will
take more time to get likes.
I don't delete or do anything with them.

Participant p1& p3 mutually expressed to be considering SNS as a good source for saving

previous one selfies but P2 was having a different opinion. All the interviewee mutually

expressed that they might not follow any specific style for capturing their selfies. It was

interesting to note that P1 & P3 shared their opinion that they might not dress up specially for

taking a selfie where as p2 seems to be conscious about his dressing. P1 expressed a different

opinion that :

Yes, I do post when I am in a sad mood. It’s just I want to be myself. I don’t get into sad mood

for a selfie. If people post their selfie, it shows that they are expressing their feeling.(P1)

Whereas, P2& P3 might not post sad selfies. All of the participants mutually expressed that they

might use social networking sites as a medium to convey their social messages and their close

ones’ follow their activities. All of the participants mutually expressed their opinions that they

might not do anything with those selfies on which they don’t get likes or comments,they might

leave them as it is.

INTERVIEWS(FEMALES)

Category Main themes Sub themes

20
Female 1. individual Like a memory
Age ( 18- power over Yeah
30) the images Individual and unique
No, im a narcissist by nature.
Right to choose images
Depends on my mood and depends on the person who took the
picture and then sent it to me.

2 .Presenting Importance of smiling

a happy and Yes a pout, because i look cute.
social life No sad images
No, never its cheap.
Social lifestyle
I don’t take a selfie while visiting a new place.
we’re always hanging out so we don’t always take a selfie. I don’t
take selfies at restaurants unless I’m with friends and we need a
group selfie.

3. The impact The importance of comments and likes

of the Fia: YES! Because im a narcissist obviously they are important for
audience my self-esteem.
I never get any likes or comments. As in I never get any likes or
comments. That’s never happened and even if it does I don’t delete
that picture.
Urge for Social acceptance of your identity
Yes it is important for me.

Category Main themes Sub themes

Female 1. individual Like a memory
Age( 18- power over the yeah sometimes I did try on outlook but I couldn’t understand it
30) images after a while. Lost the understanding so it was really complicated so
I just keep it on my laptop now.
Individual and unique
Yeah obviously everyone’s style is different from each other.
Right to choose images
Yeah only after seeing if they are good enough so i post it.
Yes I do check.About 1 or 2 times. That’s it.

21
 2 .Presenting a Importance of smiling
happy and social I take selfie like of serious face because it makes my face look a bit
life slimmer
No sad images
yeah!!! When I want to “sarofi” someone.
Cheap!
Umm… my double-chin is a really big problem so I don’t post
pictures in which my double-chin shows.
Social lifestyle
I’m a big believer in having memories to look at when I’m old so
yeah that’s why.
Who are interested in my selfie ummm… I rather not say. Friends I
guess… Family who’s jealous. There are so many people who are
jealous of me. I can’t name them all. There are some friends and
some ex-friends who like to see my pictures.

3. The impact of The importance of comments and likes

the audience Not really. Its my opinion that matters not others. Im not a big
believer in likes.
Urge for Social acceptance of your identity
Not really I post them for myself and not for my self-esteem. Not
for others.
The same answer that I gave before. I don’t care what the people
think of my pictures.
I used to check my facebook feed repeatedly after posting my selfie
but I don’t do that anymore because the notifications in my mobile
are annoying.

It was interesting to note that all interviewee mutually expressed about the benefit of SNS as a

backup of previous selfies. They all accepted that most of the time they might do editing of their

selfies before posting them on SNS.P1 & P2 expressed that they preffer a pout while taking

selfie, interestingly p3 brought a new insight which is :

I take selfie like of serious face because it makes my face look a bit slimmer

All of the respondents expressed that they might not admire a person who might be posting sad

selfies of him/her and they might post group selfies so that it might be considered as a memory

or to let their social circle knows where they might have visited recently. P1 and p2 expressed

22
their interest towards how many likes or comments they might get while p3 seems to be not

conscious about it.

DISCUSSION

First question is why do you post selfies on SNS? what is the frequency ko posting it?

Individual power over the images is the category emerge from the first question which we asked

from the participants which includes the sub themes like a memory, individual and unique, and

power to choose image.

Second question is what are your feelings when anyone likes your selfie? The imapct of the

audience is the second category emerge from the second question which we asked from the

participants which includes the sub themes such as the importance of likes and comments and the

urge for social acceptability.

Third question is how selfie taking and posting is being used to convey social message?

Presenting a happy life is the third category that emerge from the thord exploratory question

which we asked from the participants which includes the sub themes such as importance of

smiling, no sad images and social lifestyles.

JUSTIFICATION FOR SELECTING THESE PARTICIPANTS

Why you selected these participants:

The respondents attended college and came from an upper-middle socio-economical

background. They were familiar with both digitalization and the use of SNS.

This indicates that these respondents cannot be rejected in the discussion about the use of selfies

and digital self-presentaion in Pakistan

23
FINDINGS

The findings showed majority of the people are practicing the selfie taking and posting

phenomena on SNSs because it has become a pop culture nowadays. Most of the time people

capture their selfies either individual or in a group to show other people in their social circle that

they have explored something new and to convey their family and friends a social messages. In

our study, we can say that selfie is an expression of conveying an individual identity in order to

gain social acceptance. Most of the participants expressed their view that nowadays everybody is

involved in practicing the phenomena of capturing and posting selfies on SNS that is why we do

it and some of them gave a new insight as well that if nothing is happening on their social

networking sites, they would start posting selfies so that their friends and family member could

like or comment on them , this shows an urge of social acceptance of their identity. The

participants expressed that they feel good and satisfied when their selfies are being liked and

acknowledged by others. The result could however also be seen as an unwillingness to disclose

parts of life, which are somehow sensitive and private, such as a posting sad selfies expressing

depressed mood or ”dark feelings”. The result also point at something else – a trend to display

images, which only mediate the happy, beautiful, and healthy parts of one’s identity. It is clear

that although the female and male respondents did post selfies, and that they were anxious to

appear happy and attractive. Females respondents also held a wish to act differently by capturing

their selfies with different posses. Whereas, most of the male respondents were not conscious

about specific angle or style for capturing and posting selfie. Last but not the least, the result

shows that people use social networking sites in order to stay in touch with their social circle and

they take SNS a platform to show what they are doing and what is going around them by

observing social activities of others.

24
LIMITATION

One limitation of this study was that our work is not very comprehensive and extensive as there

was a small number of respondents that were interviewed. This was due to the limited amount of

time. Future research on a greater population would represent a broader insight why the people

of Pakistan are inclined towards taking and posting their selfies. With more time and resources a

larger population of respondents could have been interviewed and more attention paid to the way

the respondents were chosen. For in-depth understanding of selfie phenomena more participants

along with diverse age group shall be included which could lead towards shaping up a more

rigorous study. Through more diverse interviews or mixed focus groups, more knowledge can be

acquired on how all the people use and relate to posting images on SNS. The fact that almost all

the respondents attended the same university and were from a certain socio-economic layer of

the society should also be taken into consideration. Therefore, this study cannot be generalized

on all the other socio-economic groups in Pakistan.

In this study, no specific gender theory was included this could have been done differently. For

example some recognized theories on the way men and women are presented online could have

been included in the study. Further research could explore how women (and men) use images for

self-presentation online, based on feministic or gender theories. The usage of images on SNS

would then be explored from another perspective.

IMPLICATIONS

Our implications are that as selfie is a less explored area of academic research in Pakistan and as

we conducted this research we interviewed some individuals and conducted two focus groups

each containing a 4 males and females. We have implicated that selfie is a new topic of research

25
and a more thorough and rigorous research should be conducted in this area as most of our

participants responded that is a new pop culture.

Selfies and pictures with faces are not only self-expressions but they have become phenomenal

in grabbing attention and have settled as a ‘popular’ online practice(Souza at al, 2015).

CONCLUSION

In our study, we can say that selfie is an expression of conveying an individual identity in order

to gain social acceptance. Most of the participants expressed their view that nowadays everybody

is involved in practicing the phenomena of capturing and posting selfies on SNS that is why we

do it and some of them gave a new insight as well that if nothing is happening on their social

networking sites, they would start posting selfies so that their friends and family member could

like or comment on them , this shows an urge of social acceptance of their identity. The result

could however also be seen as an unwillingness to disclose parts of life, which are somehow

sensitive and private, such as a posting sad selfies expressing depressed mood or ”dark feelings”.

The result also point at something else – a trend to display images, which only mediate the

happy, beautiful, and healthy parts of one’s identity. It is clear that although the female and male

respondents did post selfies, and that they were anxious to appear happy and attractive. With

more time and resources a larger population of respondents could have been interviewed and

more attention paid to the way the respondents were chosen. For in-depth understanding of selfie

phenomena more participants along with diverse age group shall be included which could lead

towards shaping up a more rigorous study. We have implicated that selfie is a new topic of

research and a more thorough and rigorous research should be conducted in this area as most of

our participants responded that is a new pop culture.

26
 REFERENCES

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the

twenties. American psychologist, 55(5), 469.

27
Barry, C. T., Doucette, H., Loflin, D. C., Rivera-Hudson, N., & Herrington, L. L. (2015). “Let Me
Take a Selfie”: Associations Between Self-Photography, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem.
Bennett, S. (2014, July 20). A brief history of the #selfie (1839-2014). Mediabistro. Retrieved from
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/first-ever-selfie-history_b58436.
Butler, J. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York, 1990).
ButlerGender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity1990.
Duggan, M., & Brenner, J. (2013). The demographics of social media users, 2012 (Vol. 14).
Washington, DC: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.
Facebook on self-esteem. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(1-2), 79-83.
Fox, J., & Rooney, M. C. (2015). The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s
use and self-presentation behaviors on social networking sites. Personality and Individual
Differences, 76, 161-165.
Goffman, E. (1997). The stigmatized self. The Goffman Reader, 73-80.
Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2011). Mirror, mirror on my Facebook wall: Effects of exposure
to
Kapidzic, S. (2013). Narcissism as a predictor of motivations behind Facebook profile picture
selection. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,16(1), 14-19.
Katz, J. E., & Crocker, E. T. (2015). Selfies| Selfies and Photo Messaging as Visual Conversation:
Reports from the United States, United Kingdom and China. International Journal of
Communication, 9, 12.
Know thy selfie, narcissism. ( 2014, mar 22) The Economist, 410,81-82.
Martino, J. (2014, April 7). Scientists link selfies to narcissism, addiction, and mental illness.
Collective Evolution. Retrieved from http://www.collectiveevolution.com/2014/04/07/scientists-
link-selfies-to-narcissism-addiction-mental-illness/
Souza, F., de Las Casas, D., Flores, V., Youn, S., Cha, M., Quercia, D., & Almeida, V. (2015,
November). Dawn of the Selfie Era: The Whos, Wheres, and Hows of Selfies on Instagram. In
Proceedings of the 2015 ACM on Conference on Online Social Networks (pp. 221-231). ACM.
Walker, M. (2013, August). The good, the bad, and the unexpected consequences of the selfie
obsession. Teen Bogue. Retrived from http://www.teenvogue.com/advice/2013 08/selfie-
obsession
Williams, A. A., & Marquez, B. A. (2015). Selfies| The Lonely Selfie King: Selfies and the
Conspicuous Prosumption of Gender and Race. International Journal of Communication, 9, 13.
Winston, J. (2013). Photography in the Age of Facebook. Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science,
Technology and Society, 6(2).
Wortham, J. (2013). My Selfie, Myself. New York Times, 19.
Wrammert, A. (2014). "Selfies, dolls and film stars" - a cross-cultural study on how young women in
India and Sweden experience the use of digital images for self-presentation on social network
sites. Uppsala university(Department of Informatics and Media).

28