Between you and yourself
October 15, 2019
What happens when you look in the mirror? And is it the same thing as taking a selfie?
Furthermore, what changes when you share the selfie with others – say, via social media? And is it the same thing as sharing a photo of you taken by somebody else? What about if somebody else shares a photo of you – either alone, or in a group?
What happens, existentially speaking, in each of these events? Can we describe them as existential events? Why – or why not? Does a selfie reinforce, or alter who you are? Does it being shared with others have an impact on your identity?
Zacaria Manning, a contributor to the Blog of the American Philosophical Association (APA), reflects on the effects of “Instagramming the Self”.
Over to you.
Photo courtesy of Matteo Viscotto via Unsplash
When you look in the mirror, whether it happens accidentally and for a millisecond or you were determined to do it. You see your real self, staring back at you right at that moment, and it depends on how you feel about yourself in the first place – so the outcome of how you see yourself right there, whether it is going to be negative or positive is based on your perspective. With the mirror, there is the sense of presence as it happens in the present time, but with the selfie, you would most likely choose the “right” angle, and put yourself in the way that you want others to see you. There is a certain feeling of intimacy between you and the mirror because no one else can use your perception. However, with the selfie, it is more likely to be exposed to others, especially if you do it on purpose. With the selfie, you could reinforce and have control of how others would see you, you could alter their perception of you, and hid behind that one-time picture without showing your true self to others.
If someone else takes a picture of you and shares it with others. This is a potential threat because now you don’t really have control of how that person will show you to the rest of the world. As it is you but from a perspective of that particular person now, and it depends on how he/she views the world, and what their principles of beauty for instance. For example, they could see you as pretty, funny, or alive in the picture, but you don’t see it because your perception of the world is different. Others’ opinions of you in the picture might have an impact on how you would see yourself after the picture is shared, you might want to change something about yourself, which would be a form of betrayal to your true self.
I think looking in the mirror is very different than actually taking a selfie, because when someone looks in the mirror looks at what is good and bad in him/her self and I think the mirror makes a person realise things that perhaps didn’t know before looking in the mirror. People don’t have to freeze or stay in one position while looking at themselves to show the side that they want to see. However, in a selfie, people have more control over what and how they want the photo to look like and the selfie can capture one moment or one mood or one feeling, for example, if someone is angry they show a straight face or an angry face or when they are extremely happy they make a very happy and smiley face. With the mirror people can show all the feelings at once, and the mirror I think has more honesty toward people, and nothing can be faked, but in the selfie, because people have more control over things, they can fake things up. Personally, I prefer not to share a picture or a selfie with others because sharing means comments and perhaps there are comments that I don’t want to see, especially, as a young adult and nowadays there are so many misjudgements in social media and I think everyone has different perspectives of things and different views and different ways of thinking and I think I can’t make everyone think in the way I was thinking while taking the picture or even explain how I was thinking in that very moment, even though with the new updates in social media applications they allow me to add a caption but it still the same problem with different understanding and interpreting of words. Selfie only shows one side of a person and perhaps doesn’t show the full identity, it only shows certain things, for example, if I take a picture with a headscarf it shows that I am a Muslim, but it doesn’t show that I am Algerian, or I am a student, but if I took a picture wearing a uniform it shows that I am a student, so it’s very hard to show the full identity in only one selfie.
Siham, these are all perfectly valid observations – about the factual differences between looking in a mirror and taking a selfie. Now, you could start reflecting on what they actually mean, in terms for instance of a person’s rapport to him/herself, or to others; why is it that we need the control that you talk about; and how various ways of representing the self can impact on what "the self" actually means (in its various aspects).
When you share a selfie, it is the image of yourself that you want to share. For example, you have control over what angle others see you, the lighting and/or the filters. You may mask or highlight certain aspects of yourself. When someone else shares a picture they took of you, it can be a way of sharing their perspective of you. They are in control of what they want to highlight about you. Different photographers may capture different "versions" of you. I believe both a selfie and a photograph may reinforce your own self and how others view you.
Grace – see my reply to Laura, about what angles others see in you and about control. These two are valuable lines of thought, which deserve further development.
What you bring new is the idea that there are several ‘versions’ of you. Perhaps not only the one seen by others (from the outside, as it were) as opposed to the way you see yourself (from the inside). By the way, how might the fact that you have an inside perception of yourself affect the way you see yourself, as an image? But there may be versions of you in the way you see yourself in the mirror – and is it just because the light may change from one moment to the next, or might it be because your ‘mood’ has changed? Explore. And there may be versions of you as you are seen by others – even by the same person. Why? And what are the ontological implications of that?
It is an interesting question because it is often said that a mirror makes one look better than what they usually do, yet when each and every one of us look in the mirror we tend to focus on our flaws and latch onto that thought. I do not believe that looking in the mirror is the same as taking a selfie, looking in the mirror is more true, more raw and taking a selfie is all made up and fake to make oneself look better and are usually taken to send to others, and who likes to look bad when sending pictures to other people? Personally I am not a very active person on social media, I don’t think theres anything wrong with it or people who do, but i tend to not post at all. I find the people that do post selfies are those who are more confident and happy with themselves, sometimes nearing overly self absorbed. I do not enjoy when people post primarily just of me, but in a group situation it is more than okay. I do not think that in this day and age posting a picture or selfie can be counted as an existential event as it is just another normal thing people do nowadays, but I do feel that taking a selfie and posting it makes people more confident in themselves.
Reyhan, it seems to me the key notion here is that an image seen in the mirror is ‘more true’ than that from a selfie. I’d like you to explore this further, because it has ontological, as well as epistemological implications.
The second line of thought in your reflection is about the link between people’s presence on social media (especially manifested as posting pictures of oneself) and their level of happiness, or self-confidence. I wonder if that is a strong correlation – and if so, why? Or could it be a manifestation of one’s temperament? Or the opposite of self-confidence, some sort of need for attention?
When you look in a mirror you tend to see a more attractive self-image than with a selfie. Its almost like when there is a still picture of oneself their brains can notice and pinpoint more flaws. There is also the idea of the placement of a mirror. It can be placed in front of a window which would show optimal lighting. Moreover, the mirror can be a bit distorted or unreliable and show a body image that isn’t fully accurate. When you share a selfie with others it puts you in a vulnerable state because you are getting judged by other’s eyes not just your own. But, when you have the posting power you can choose what you want out there and even manipulate it to your liking with editing and filters. If you make your photo likable and aesthetically pleasing, it will most likely receive positive feedback via “likes and comments.” When you personally share a selfie it is different from sharing a photo that someone else has taken of you because the other person does not necessarily know your good angles and could portray you in a bad light, or the opposite could be they could know your angles better than you do. When someone else has the posting power of a photo of you it is out of your control how the photo might be received. It could end up being an unflattering photo of you becuse your friend looks better than you in it. Existentially speaking a bad photograph of you being seen by the public eye will not change the person you are inside it will only change how others see you. This could impact one’s self- esteem or self-image but it does not make them less of a person.
Laura, there are at least two (if not three) different lines of thought in what you say. The first is about the power of the live image (in a mirror, which you can move around to catch the best angle, most light etc.) v. the given-ness of a selfie already taken. This is about time – present v. past, as much as it is about the dynamics of it. Looking in the mirror is something you do at the present time and you can still ‘work on it’, change it, play with it etc. A selfie on paper is done, both gone and unchangeable. You could explore these philosophical implications further.
Then, there is the idea that the viewer changes the way you feel about the image (and, implicitly, about yourself in it). If you are the only one looking at yourself in the mirror, that is one thing; but if someone else looks at your selfie, that is a totally different experience. Perception is not the only aspect that changes (potentially) with the viewer; the actual ‘content’ of the image can seem different. ‘They’ look at the image from the outside, so what they see may be significantly different from what you see, looking at yourself. And secondly, there is the aspect of vulnerability, which you talk about.
And finally, there is the issue of power – or control. If someone else has posting power of your photo, you feel out of control. True – but why? How does that make you feel potentially weaker? Is it the fear of being judged? Or is it more than that? Is it related to the potential existential effects that others’ judgement might have on you? Explore.
Each of these lines of thought deserves a separate paragraph.
But well done, an excellent start!