Selfies - sharing, narcissm, validation

Here I am sharing selfies (pictures taken by myself, of myself), my complicated feelings about selfies, and the stories behind these particular ones.

The selfies I am embedding into this post are all ones that I posted on Instagram. I chose to do this because Instagram is the medium where I share the most selfies, over other options like Facebook or Twitter. I rarely take a selfie that I do not share anywhere, if I don't like it I will delete it, and if I do like it, it will probably end up on Instagram.

Instagram has the facility to like and comment on photos and while I don't think I necessarily post pictures for the 'likes' I can't deny that I overthink, at times, the amount of 'likes' a picture I post gets. Does less likes on this picture of my face mean my face has got worse? Although, I have noticed that a picture of myself gets a lot more 'likes' that a picture of a landscape or the latest book I've loved.



A classic selfie, no distinctive background, just my profile taking up the whole shot. From memory I think I was just having a good hair/outfit/face day and felt like sharing it with the world, and something nice to look back on if I'm not having such a good hair/outfit/face day.

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Sharing a snap of my best friend and I, when she came to visit me at Halloween. This was one of quite a few that were taken, the one I chose to post publicly was the one I thought showed me at my bets angle.

HERE'S A BETTER ONE OF ME, not quite so giddy. Week 6 of 6 done of Writing For Children and I can barely find the words to say just how brilliant this Masterclass has been. This week I shared a new thing with the group, a thing I loved writing but wasn't sure how it would go down. Tooting my own horn alert but from the reaction of everyone in the room, it went down better than I could have ever dreamed. I have never felt so happy and proud of myself in my life. Like I think this might even top my graduation. I'm going to miss everyone so much, from the teacher, the other students and all their stories and their feedback, which has truly helped - I'm sure they'll make the acknowledgement page in my debut. I truly hope we all keep in touch but I know I'll always treasure and value the time we've spent with each other the past 6 weeks. I am a Writer. #masterclass #stealthyselfie #theguardian
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I documented my 6 week Guardian Masterclass through captions on instagram pictures, this being the final one, complete with an official name badge. Lots of people I knew were keen to know how I got on, and I didn't want to forget any of it, hence the long captions. The picture was more of a means to write the caption than anything else.


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I took this whilst at a festival last summer, because it's not everyday you get to adorn your face with floral glitter and I guess I thought I looked pretty good.