SELFIE ADDICTION

I came across this article (here) when researching into social media obsession.  It speaks about how a 19 year old boy dropped out of education, wouldn’t leave his home and lost a severe amount of weight all in the hope to improve his appearance for selfies. I hadn't realised the extent that social media and smartphone obsession had reached, as I only have personal experiences to relate too. 

For someone to be spending 10 hours a day, taking over 200 images of themselves seems so unrealistic to me, however Dr David veal explains how ‘Danny’s case is particularly extreme, but this is a serious problem. It’s not a vanity issue. It’s a mental health one which has an extremely high suicide rate.’

Danny says that:

‘I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realised I couldn’t I wanted to die. I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life. The only thing I cared about was having my phone with me so I could satisfy the urge to capture a picture of myself at any time of the day. I finally realised I was never going to take a picture that made the craving go away and that was when I hit rock bottom.

People don’t realise when they post a picture of themselves on Facebook or Twitter it can so quickly spiral out of control. It becomes a mission to get approval and it can destroy anyone. It’s a real problem like drugs, alcohol or gambling. I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through.’

From personal experience I can understand feeling frustrated when the lighting isn’t perfect in a picture or if I simply cant get the right angle, which even then is a silly thing to be getting worked up about in my opinion. Why should a selfie or a picture that you post on social media ruin your day?

It is only a picture at the end of the day.

This article has opened my eyes to how serious some of the issues surrounding social media use are, inspiring me to want to truly understand the matter and convey it throughout the project in the best possible way. By conducting further research through primary resources and academic psychology journals, it will help me appreciate this topic, as at the minute it is completely new to me.

Being knowledgeable within a subject matter will achieve better outcomes in the long run, as it will open up different thought processes and paths for ideas to grow from. The ideas and concepts behind the project imagery should improve as a result of this, as there will be factual knowledge behind it.

ALDRIDGE, G. and K. HARDEN, 2014. Selfie Addict Took Two Hundred a Day – And Tried To Kill Himself When He Couldn’t Take Perfect Photo. The Mirror. [Viewed 13 February 2016] Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/selfie-addict-took-two-hundred-3273819