‘Auto’ “a prefix meaning oneself”, has come to generally be associated with the term auto-biography, a self-told narrative illustrating ones own life (both defined by Dictionary.com). Typically, auto-biographies are written by people of interest, whom the general public wants to know how to be, but evolving media and social platforms has made the auto-biography (in a loose sense) increasingly more accessible and attractive to the masses. Particular media such as photography and self-photography have become indisputably popular.

The Selfie and Social Media 

The selfie has become a portal, especially for youth, that allows a consistent sharing of personal information. This practice of sharing, and controversially, over sharing, allows for a type of running auto-biography: one that is forever and simultaneously a first and final draft. Selfies are used by many of today’s younger generations as a way to express their own, often tumultuous, experiences and feelings.  In Kate Douglas’ article “Youth, Trauma and memorialization: The selfie as witnessing”,  she references the work of Frosh and Pinchevski, stating that social media makes it possible for the public to “recount their day-to-day experiences to mass audiences” (pg.3). Douglas investigates the selfie being used as an act of memorial, as a sort of “second-person witnessing”, and notes that the act of taking a selfie should be thought of as “the creation of a life narrative text” (pg.4). Selfies and social media offers an opportunity for a personal brand to be created, one that is subjective to the whims of its designer and the current trends of the online world. So, should selfies and other new media forms of self-representation be encouraged? Do they provide a healthy outlet for youth?

One of my cousins, fifteen and finishing middle school, has taken to social media to voice her opinion on the many ‘pressing’ issues that seem to persistently follow her demographic. Her social media feeds are inundated with dark, edgy selfies that are the results of rash, intense emotions. Along with the many pictures of herself,  there has come varying amounts of controversy. She has become the subject of ridicule by peers, and has found herself in the principle’s office more than once due to varying levels of online drama. Her parents are in a constant power struggle as they remove social media privileges … and replace them soon after. She then responds by voicing harsh criticism on Instagram.

Because of situations like hers, oftentimes the personal brand that is created is one without forethought and can make lasting, possibly unwanted, impressions of typically vulnerable age groups. Contrarily, As Jill Walker’s “Seeing Ourselves”, observes, whatever content that eventually makes it onto a personal feed has gone through a sort of “technological filter”, one that lets  “certain kinds of content seep through while others are held back” (pg.35) She claims that the identity that has been created is one version of the author. A version that has undergone review, and has been carefully crafted. But if that’s true, can these constant, ever-changing, feeds of personal information be consider as an auto-biography, a non-fictional account, if authenticity is something that lends itself to debate?

In Conclusion 

Social media, in all of its forms, is undeniably a platform for self-expression and representation. But do these feeds provide an accurate portrayal of the author behind them? And if so, are the environments they create healthy for today’s youth?

Works Cited:

Douglas, Kate. Youth, Trauma and Memorialization: The Selfie as Witnessing. Memory Studies. Sage Publishing. 2017

Rettberg J.W. Serial Selfies. In: Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices to See and Shape Ourselves. Palgrave Macmillan, London. 2014

“autobiography”.Dictionary.com. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/autobiography?s=t. 2017