Are most selfie takers narcissists?

In the age of mobile phones and cameras being available in everyone’s pocket, I’m curious to know how many out there actually take selfies. I’ve never taken one myself, unless I have had to because a friend asks me for a photo but I’ve never taken one just for the fun of it. But that does not mean that I’ve never come across countless people taking ones of themselves in the most unusual of places.

Just the other day I was leaving a public washroom in a shopping mall and noticed that a young girl was taking a selfie of herself in the mirror in that washroom. I found that very odd. I mean I often roll my eyes at people taking selfies whilst going up or down escalators inside shopping malls but what this girl was doing was a puzzler. And at this stage I wasn’t even wondering why someone would want a selfie of themselves. My question was, why in the washroom? I’ve always been baffled by selfie takers. I often used to think, boy they must think a lot of themselves to want to take that selfie just at that moment. I’ve often caught sight of myself in my phone selfie when I intend to take a photo of something and notice that the camera was in the selfie mode and I can assure I do not look nice and I quickly change its mode! And that might even be on the best of days.

So what is it about people who are prone to taking selfies at every moment of their lives? If it is not the food they’re eating, they are taking shots of themselves. But apparently, we have it all wrong? Many of us might think that the person who appears to be addicted to taking selfies might actually be a narcissist but, according to psychologists, that’s not it at all. According to them, they are not braggarts but people who want to record events for posterity and if they are also in those shots then the moment that has been captured has more meaning to them.

But imagine how hard it must be to take that perfect shot if you are alone? People have been known to make uncomfortable poses, sometimes in the most dangerous of places, just to take a shot that captures the moment. It could be on the edge of a cliff, up a ladder, down a pothole or even in mid-air. Maybe that’s why there are so many different types of selfie sticks; to stop people doing anything they might regret or cause them physical harm.

I know this sounds amusing but I would never ever take a photo like this in case I hurt myself or lose my phone doing it. In the old days when there was no such thing as a mobile phone, people would stop random strangers in the street, or on a beach, hand them their cameras and ask them to take a photo of them posing in front of a monument or the sea. And most strangers would be very obliging. But with mobile phones, that store so much more than photos of your morning breakfast, handing your device over to a stranger is certainly not an option. I reckon it is, for this reason, that people take photos of themselves using the selfie camera.

Ok so people like to take selfies to capture an important moment they’re in. But what about someone in a washroom? Or on an escalator? Or inside a lift? Or just walking down the street? These are not momentous occasions that need to be recorded for the sake of posterity. Surely these are photos of people who love to have their photos taken? Maybe these are braggarts?

But photos of foods and drinks they’re having being posted on social media? What is that about? Does anyone really care what someone is eating at a restaurant? I can understand if someone asks you what you had for lunch and you send them a photo by WhatsApp. But to post it on social media implies that you think your followers actually want to know what you’re eating. Maybe I am mistaken and they do want to know. But in most cases, I am sure they do not. Again, braggarts perhaps?