The History of the Selfie

Today's teens, young adults and even (gasp!) real adults are guilty of continually supporting an online sin: selfies. Now, I'm guilty of selfies, or self "portraits", and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. However, this phenomenon is not going anywhere any time soon. In fact, selfies have been around for about as long as the personal camera itself.

The first recorded use of the word selfie was an Australian man in 2002 when he posted a lip of his busted lip after a night of parting. "Sorry about the focus, it was a selfie," he wrote on an online forum. But just because he was the first one to use the word doesn't mean that selfies didn't exist before this. In 1914, the Grand Duchess of Russia Anastasia Nikolaevna photographed herself in a mirror in order to send a photo to her friend. 

Just like many other things, we can thank the rise of popularity of selfies to technology. Digital cameras giving users many chances to take a photo of themselves without assistance can be handed some credit here, but most believe that the rise of cell phone cameras, specifically front-facing cameras, is what pushed this narcissistic behavior to an every day occurrence in our society. 

But just being used by the average American isn't enough. The selfie is further accepted due to use by celebrities on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook fan pages. One of America's most tech-savvy families, the Kardashian's, post selfie photos on a nearly daily basis. 

If you think the selfie is going to fall off the map any time soon, hold your breath. Odds are it isn't happening.