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Social media and a desire to connect to yourself as well as a wider audience has led to the birth to the term “selfie”.

A selfie is a photo of yourself that you actually take yourself. These can be taken anywhere at any time, but for it to be a “selfie” it must be self-snapped.

Whether you are using your cell phone, a camera, a webcam or something else, selfies are rising in popularity, and in criticism. The concept of a selfie may at first seems a bit vain and overconfident, but in reality, selfies are a great way to show self-expression and self-love.

Have you ever had a really bad photo taken of you? It can make you feel embarrassed and ashamed. If you aren’t in control of that picture, those feelings can increase.

Photos can affect your confidence and self-image in powerful ways, positive or negative. They can change how you see -or love- yourself.

Self-love can be difficult for people who may not feel comfortable with their bodies, or with how they look. Often people are told that (for whatever reason) their body and person is wrong and should not be displayed.

The media has a strong monopoly on what images of people are published, and often those images don’t reflect reality at all. This can lead to body dysmorphia, dysphoria, eating disorders, depression and more in the people who view these images.

Selfies are a great way to reclaim published images and show the world how untouched images of bodies and people look, with a wider representation of human beings.

That’s where confidence comes in. Having confidence in yourself can take bravery and time, but it shows that you have a great attitude and hold yourself in a nice manner.

Confidence is important to your well-being and doesn’t mean you are stuck up, or full of yourself. Confidence just means that you are happy with who you are, and don’t care about the outside influences that attempt to reinforce the negative and toxic.

If you have a healthy amount of confidence and a realistic positive self-image, this can assist with self-love! Self-love is important because it affects all aspects of your interactions with the world.

Lacking confidence and self-love can lead to feelings of anxiety, despair, hopelessness, and even suicidal thoughts. It can affect work productivity and personal relationships.

And yes, feeling bad inside can even make you look bad outside, with effects like premature aging and general poor health. It can make you more closed-in and less likely to reach out to other people, feeding the cycle. So maintaining your self-esteem is important.

Selfies can help to enhance your confidence and self-love! Doing things like a 365 project, or taking snapshots of your outfit can give you safe, controlled feedback on how you really look and appear to the world.

Most people have an internal self-image that is drastically different from their external public image. Selfies can unite the two views and give you a timeline of your life to boot.

If you choose to post selfies to the web, this gives you control of your public image. Now those candid, flush faced awkward-angle party photos aren’t the only ones people are seeing. You can show yourself however you want. You can paint yourself like a tiger and take a snarling fierce photo, or carefully wash and groom and take a very clean professional photo. You can look however you’d like whenever you’d like wherever you’d like, and that is what people will see!

Selfies can change not only your internal image, but your external image as well! Confident, precise photos of yourself will give other people that image of you too.

However, there will always be people online and in life whose sole commentary is meant to tear you down. Selfie posters and women in particular can face harsh backlash on their photos, but that hasn’t stopped this popular phenomenon… and it shouldn’t stop you! From President Obama to the girl down the street, selfies continue to thrive.

Join the ‘selfie generation’ and try it out today. A picture is worth a thousand words, so let your photos speak for themselves. Who knows? You might like what you see!

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