5 rules for taking #selfies on Instagram

A long-overdue treatise for snapping self-portraits

Here's my selfie, you guys!
(Image credit: @chrigz)

Selfies are horrible. At least, that's the implied argument in a new essay by ReadWrite's John Paul Titlow, who's drawing some much-needed attention to the indulgent, narcissistic act of snapping a self-portrait and uploading it onto the internet for other human eyeballs to consume. The sheer number of selfies with the #me hashtag on Instagram is a "scourge," argues Titlow, and transforms the beloved photo-sharing service into a "high school popularity contest on digital steroids."

But humans have long been narcissists. It's part of what makes us us. And indulging in the latent urge to "check yourself out" and share the results with everyone you know shouldn't make you the target of massive public shaming. Instead, let's adopt a few basic ground rules, which, at their core, aim to improve the overall user experience for everyone involved.

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.