We’ve been using the social medias to share and have conversations for years. What is emerging are distinct members of our community who are excited to embrace the visual storytelling it provides for others eg “follow my journey” or “have a look inside“. We (humans) break down barriers when we share through visualisation. It is why we all love the social medias surely – they are all highly visual and we “get it”. We also love a good story (gossip even), and many people’s journey’s are a lot more interesting or exciting than our own (or so we believe).

Providing an understanding of anything, be it a location, concept, or style can be liberating for another person. Many of us don’t like the “unknown“. We all Google to research, to review and check, so in essence following a person’s journey is no different. This isn’t meant in a stalkerish way – as the person sharing is in control of what they are posting and contributing. We see a glimpse to gain a greater understanding. There may be a purpose, a story they wish to unfold. This form of modern storytelling is the sharing of a journey, a person’s life, that breaks down barriers and raises awareness of how we live or what we want to share.

**You could say this thinking emerged initially via the television broadcasting medium, introduced by the likes of shows such as Big Brother, etc. However, television programs like this can be staged and false.

Photographing your journey through the social medias – is like being a storyteller of a modern age.

Introducing the selfie on journey.

A selfie, short for a self-portrait photograph, is usually taken with a mobile phone or a hand-held camera and are usually in a slightly titled manner. -Wikipedia, 2014

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Oxford word of the year 2013: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/11/word-of-the-year-2013-winner/ who say, quote “Self-portraits are nothing new – people have been producing them for centuries, with the medium and publication format changing. Oil on canvas gave way to celluloid, which in turn gave way to photographic film and digital media. As the process became snappier (pun intended) so has the name.”

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A regular person, taking a regular selfie, shows a regular life, on a regular journey. It is a modern age storytelling process and there is nothing regular about that. It’s a new paradigm. The selfie on a journey – the storytellers of a modern age. -Charlie, 2015

In social media, many psychology experts have been touting the “selfie” as the narcissism platform or as an ego boosting phenomenon, but quite frankly, we forget the positives it provides all too quickly.
More reading: http://thoughtcatalog.com/anna-agoncillo/2014/11/psychoanalyzing-the-selfie-nation-whats-the-difference-between-narcissism-and-self-expression/

The creative side of taking a selfie

• Everyone is a photographer – especially with Instagram filters on hand but most mobile phone cameras can edit as well.
• Everyone has a good side and likes to see themselves look good, “a bit of vanity is OK, narcissism not so much”. Read this article by Jeff Bullas to understand more where this thought is from: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/09/23/facebook-and-narcissism/on-the-social-web-everyone-has-a-voice-everyone-is-judged.
• Everyone wants praise and in learning about karma or paybacks, gives it freely, to receive it.
• Everyone has something they want to share or raise awareness for. It might be their community, a group, activity or scenario. The journey could help unravel this, leading to a more deeper understanding of that.
• Everyone has a fascinating journey and sharing your story is the creative side of taking a selfie – why the photo, what’s in it, where are you and how did you get there in the first place?

We all want to see it. We want to believe it. It’s your story, it’s your journey. Share it.

Good selfies

1. Learn your angle – try and photograph your good side – it just makes sense and you will feel better about sharing
2. Have fun and be natural – you don’t have to look perfect
3. Share the background – it makes it more interesting (not that you aren’t)
4. Add the story – we are all interested in what and where etc
5. Add a tease – don’t share absolutely everything everytime (sometimes we humans need to flirt)
6. Broaden your scope – include others (think about using the #oscarselfie concept as it’s fun)
7. For full backgrounds use the #360selfie which is a video format (don’t get dizzy).
8. Don’t be too vain. Enjoy.

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My selfie journey tell a story of friends, family, work, events, moments and sharing.