Selfie is an english word, a neologism from the term self-portrait, which means self portrait, and it is a photo taken and shared on the internet.
Usually a selfie is taken by the person himself that appears in the photo, with a cell phone that has a built-in camera, with a smartphone, for example. It can also be taken with a digital camera or webcam. The particularity of a selfie is that it is taken with the purpose of being shared on a social network like Facebook or Myspace, for example. One selfie it can be taken with just one person, a group of friends or even celebrities.
In 2013, those responsible for Oxford dictionaries chose selfie such as word of the year. One of the reasons for this choice was the fact that the search for this word grew 17000% in 2013, which confirms its status as one of the most searched words in a year.
Some selfies that are shared end up showing up on humor sites because people make funny faces (sending kisses, also known as "duck face" or duck face) or because something weird or hilarious appears in the background.
The practice of taking selfies has gained popularity globally, and some have had millions of views. Some examples of these are the selfie taken by a group of young people with Pope Francis and the selfie taken at the Oscars, where several Hollywood stars appear, such as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc.
A selfie can also be at the center of a controversy, as is the case with the selfie taken at Nelson Mandela's funeral, where Barack Obama, David Cameron and Helle Thorning Schmidt appear.
See too:
- smartphone