Trending in India: ‘But first let me take a selfie’
The music video of Chainsmokers’ ‘But first let me take a selfie’ went viral on social media soon after its release and subsequently we saw its various adaptation but some have take the selfie fever rather too seriously. With easy accessibility of smartphones, selfies are not taken on any occasion but at all times and everywhere.
The most disgusting and saddening was a man posing for selfie of him with this deceased uncle and shared the picture on Facebook. The only caption for the selfie according to me is ‘heartless and inappropriate’. But such selfies do not deter the intent of selfie obsessed people where the feel the need to share every moment– happy and sad, on social platforms.
Almost a year back the 2014 Oscars, Ellen Degeneres’ selfie broke all records on Twitter to feature in the list of top trends of all times and be the most re-tweeted post on Twitter. The selfie featured Ellen Degeneres will Hollywood celebrities such as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Bradley Cooper, among other at Academy awards 2014.
India celebrities such as Katrina Kaif, Shahrukh Khan, Mandira Bedi are not far behind in the selfie tally sharing self portraits on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and fans further sharing the same with people in their list. But I am not sure if the secondary camera of smartphones was invented with a similar intent but in digital media every user can find multiple applications of one feature.
In bid to garner likes, shares and re-tweets people come up with most innovative selfies but with access to the world wide web one must understand the responsibility embedded in the periphery of social media in terms of sharing images and content online. This is a reason why the government bodies have to step in to regulate online content on different platforms.
When we protest against ban on web content imposed by the Indian government with AIB Roast and documentary films India’s Daughter among the most recent ones, we must adopt the practice of self regulation when sharing content on social platforms. India’s constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression as one of our fundamental rights but it should not be exploited in a manner that disturbs the peace of others residing in the country.
