Word Spy - selfie

n. A photographic self-portrait, particularly one taken with the intent of posting it to a social network.

Example Citations:

This is the shot we've all been waiting for: the first time that our robot on Mars would rotate its camera and snap an image of its Short Circuit-like head.

This is, as the kids would say, a "selfie," a photo taken with the intent to post it to social media sites.
—Alexis Madrigal, "Mars Curiosity Rover Takes a Selfie," The Atlantic, September 10, 2012

Log on to twitter, type in the hashtag #selfies, and watch as a stream of photo links appear. Every minute or two a new one pops up: a teen in a summer dress, a man wearing earrings and a crucifix, a woman in large aviator glasses, a girl with pale blue eyes staring out from the screen.

A selfie is a photo someone takes of themselves, usually on a smartphone.
—Larissa Nicholson, "Look-at-me generation," Canberra Times, September 9, 2012

Earliest Citation:

[Y]ou're great at being imaginative and acrobatic in your posing btw. and yeah, my selfies are usually late or early.
—maryanne_b, "Oh please, like you never got inspired at midnight and took a weird self-portrait by balancing your camera on a boot someone left in the hallway" (comment), Flickr, August 9, 2006

Notes:

Categories:

Social Networking
Photography

Posted on September 21, 2012