Smiling For Your Smartphone Summary

In her article “Smiling for Your Smartphone” Kate Humphry discusses the role that “selfies” are playing in our society today. One topic she touches on is why selfies are so popular among the younger generations. The answer to her question is the answer same entity that drives most of what humans do; validation, social status, and what one can gain through the eyes of others.
Social media plays a major role in our society today. When one changes something about themselves or an interesting event occurs in their lives, more often than not, they feel the need to share it with others. They do not share the mundane rather, the extraordinary. While the want to share experiences is a valid explanation for the behavior is not the need for validation from peers equally as acceptable. In a society such as this one where, many feel the pressure to fit in while standing above the rest is great, the act of taking a “selfie” and posting it for the world to see, asking for
As an example, the young man in Hampton’s article shares a “selfie” of himself in his uniform with the others. His friends that are sports fans may like this post validating his participation in sports while socially labeling him as an athlete. If he thrives in sports his posts could gain him social media stardom or possibly actual stardom which, would be the ultimate validation. Or when Hampton discusses sharing a photo at the “Spoonbridge and Cherry”, many people would see this as a unique and interesting experience and by sharing that experience one is validating that their life is interesting and that they are worth spending time on. Simple “selfies” can even be a way of validating that one is beautiful or whatever emotion the subject of the photo is experiencing. If one takes a smiling selfie and receives a positive response from their followers, this could easily validate for that person that “yes, I am