As senior Mary Quinn walks into Mrs. Katy Moore’s AP Language class, she wasn’t expecting to find out something that defines her generation. Mrs. Moore asked the class to think of what they thought was the Word of the Year.
“Twerk,” “awk,” “totes,” “swag,” and many other words came up, yet when Mrs. Moore finally told the class that the word was “selfies,” Quinn wasn’t taken aback like some of her classmates.
“I really wasn’t surprised,” said Quinn, “but it was a little disheartening to see that America is that shallow.”
Mrs. Moore spent the entire day teaching the Word of the Year to her classes.
“I don’t think students realize how much language changes and how much impact they have on language,” said Mrs. Moore.
Senior Jacob Reynolds found the lesson extremely enjoyable. He was able to take a step away from the language used “from a hundred years ago,” and to go into depth about this generation’s language, and how it differs.
“I think it’s awesome that she taught us that,” said Reynolds.
Mrs. Moore loved the idea that “selfie” was the word of the year. She feels that it is really cool that “kids, especially, see that their language is really becoming an accepted language.”
Mrs. Moore believes that while selfies will connect memories to each picture, they also help in embedding the idea of being physically perfect.
“It really seems like it was a word that was generated by young people. I loved it,” said Mrs. Moore.
The selfie. It has to be perfect. Once it’s posted, it will always be there.
It will define who you are in the ever- changing social status.
If it is good then you’re instantly liked, but if it is bad…well it can never be erased from memory.
The Oxford Dictionary official definition of a “selfie” is “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”
“I think it fits perfect cause everyone’s self absorbed,” said senior Allison Parrish. So do selfies define this generation as self-absorbed?
“I feel like if it is [the Word of the Year], then maybe people should focus on more selfless acts to make them feel good about themselves,” said senior Abby Marrin.
According to news.yahoo.com, the Oxford Dictionary’s states “usage of the word has increased 17,000 percent over the past 12 months.”
With the help of social media, “selfies” have been taken everywhere, from just the simple cute smile to the aftermath of a fight to just something funny to post.
Whether it is through a social media site like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, or creating a single day for selfies alone like Selfie Sunday, the selfie has made its way to the top of this generation’s social life.
“320”, said sophomore Dotty Fries, “that’s how many likes I’ve gotten on a selfie before.”
Roughly 60,480,000 posts have included “#selfie” on Instagram.
According to Retronaut.com, photographic self-portraits have been around since 1900, when Kodak debuted the Brownie box, an inexpensive camera. Most selfies are takin in front of a mirror.
This is due to how they were taken back before cameras had the ability to take self portraits.
The Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was one of the first teenagers to take her own picture and send it to a friend using the mirror, according to Retronaut.com.
But the earliest usage of the word “selfie” was used in 2002. According to blog.oxforddictionaries.com, the word selfie was used in an Australian Internet.
“Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie,” it said on ABC Online in 2002. This was the first recording of this word. Since then, the selfie has taken off.
Selfies have become weekly and sometimes daily exercises that are being practiced. Even boys are being sucked into this rising epidemic.
“Some days I take none,” said senior Ben O’Brien, “While others I take a ton.”
The “selfie” becoming the Word of the Year brings new light to the power that today’s teens have.
“You are really in control of where we’re gonna go and how we use technology in the future,” said Mrs. Moore, “I really think you guys have more power then you realize.”
