During the duration της τελευταίας δεκαετίας, οι selfies έχουν γίνει ένα βασικό στήριγμα του λαϊκού πολιτισμού. Εάν και το hashtag #selfie εμφανίστηκε για πρώτη φορά το 2004, η κυκλοφορία του iPhone 4 το 2010 ήταν που βοήθησε πολύ τις εικόνες να γίνονται viral. Τρία χρόνια αργότερα, το Αγγλικό Λεξικό της Οξφόρδης συμπεριέλαβε τη λέξη "selfie".
We use selfies for various purposes, usually in social or professional. According to a research by 2018, 82% of American adults under 34 had posted a selfie on social media. Until the start of the pandemic in public gatherings, an entire industry was dedicated to creating events and museums Selfie.
Δεδομένης αυτής της τεράστιας δημοτικότητας, τα τελευταία τέσσερα χρόνια το φαινόμενο άρχισε να έχει την προσοχή των γνωστικών επιστημών. Όπως έχουν δείξει πρόσφατες μελέτες, ο τρόπος λήψης μιας selfie - και οι συγκεκριμένες γωνίες που επιλέγουμε - ποικίλλει ανάλογα με το τι σκοπεύουμε να κάνουμε μαζί τους.
The left bias
From the 1970 decade we know that in historical western portraits, artists preferred to depict the left cheek of their models, especially when painting women. A study of 2017 showed that in taking selfie photos, people tend to turn their smartphone to photograph their left cheek.
Some patterns have also been identified in the way the models position their cameras vertically. Another study of 2017 for selfies posted on Tinder found that when looking to connect, women most often choose to take selfies from above and men from below.
His colleagues Alessandro Soranzo and he looked at how this might differ on a different platform. They investigated 2.000 selfies posted by a random sample of 200 different accounts of Instagram - δέκα selfies ανά άτομο. Για κάθε selfie, κατέγραψαν το φύλο του χρήστη όπως εμφανιζόταν στη φωτογραφία και αν έβγαλαν το selfie τους από ψηλά, από κάτω ή μπροστά. Διαπίστωσαν ότι όλοι οι χρήστες - ανεξάρτητα από το φύλο - έτειναν να τοποθετούν την κάμερα πάνω από το κεφάλι τους.
These differences in camera position create different types of selfies. The question is why. How do these choices relate to why selfies are used on the platforms where they are posted?
Facial expressiveness
Οι περισσότεροι οδηγοί "πώς να πάρετε το καλύτερο selfie" τονίζουν ότι η φωτογράφηση του προσώπου σας υπό γωνία και από πάνω σας κάνει να φαίνεστε καλύτερα.
This is confirmed from a study where the authors found that men taking selfies below were, in part, an attempt to look taller and therefore more masculine. Women who take selfies from above are said to achieve the opposite. They look shorter but more feminine.
Elsewhere, the research examine the first trends in selfie poses and how some related to the angle and composition of your face so that it looks slimmer and more attractive.
Trying to explain why a painter would prefer the left side of the model's face, the researchers explored various versions. The artist could be left-handed or right-handed, and then the model would sit in relation to the painter. There may have been a superiority of the left half-field of view in face recognition: in other words, could a profile painted on the left side of the canvas be more easily perceived?
However, the data were vague in all of these theories, except for the possibility, according to the study authors, of a key visual preference. Maybe, as they suggested, we just find the left side more attractive than the right.
In the selfies, both the left and the right show the same left-cheek bias. This prevalence suggests that we know, instinctively, that the appearance of our left side is the best choice.
The recently evidence provides a clearer reason why this may be the case. The left side of the face is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, which in turn is responsible for communicating emotions. Thus, the left side is more emotionally expressive.
Researchers have also found that we tend to perceive ourselves as more attractive and likable in our selfies than in the photos taken by others.
Ο βαθμός εκφραστικότητας που αναζητούμε εξαρτάται από το τι σκοπεύουμε να επικοινωνήσουμε και από την πλατφόρμα στην οποία επικοινωνούμε. Δείχνοντας το αριστερό μάγουλο - ή τον εαυτό μας από ψηλά - φαινόμαστε πιο εκφραστικοί. Η τοποθέτηση της κάμερας μπροστά, στο μεταξύ, επιτυγχάνει μια ουδέτερη εμφάνιση.
Proxemics Selfie
The models, by choosing pose and other iconographic features, provide non-verbal, social and emotional signals to their viewers. These signals can be considered as the 2D equivalent of the non-verbal signals we use in face-to-face communication.
In person, individuals monitor posture, facial expressions, and how far apart they are from each other to express degrees of intimacy or avoidance. From his work Edward Hall of the 1960s, The Hidden Dimension, we have called this behavior divisive.
In selfies, you only have iconographic space to play. However, it also provides a set of proxemics: how to orient the subject, any left-right asymmetry in the composition, questions of relative size between objects in the frame.
These variables, which are determined by the distance from the camera and, above all, the angle of the camera, contribute to the non-verbal communication of the motivations, intentions or emotional states of the model.
So selfies have been defined as a form of self-disclosure. It is not just someone who is pictorially presented, but a means of revealing personal information in a dialogue.
Η φύση του selfie το ξεχωρίζει από την πιο μελετημένη, καλλιτεχνική πρόθεση μιας αυτοπροσωπογραφίας. Ομοίως, ο τρόπος με τον οποίο γίνεται μια selfie είναι το περιεχόμενο και η αλληλεπίδραση. Όπως το γράφει ο συγγραφέας, θεωρητικός και το άτομο πίσω από το Μουσείο Selfies tumblr, "οι selfies μοιράζονται ως μέρος μιας συνομιλίας".
This article by Alessandro Soranzo, Reader in Experimental Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University, is republished from The Conversation with permission Creative Commons.
