The Snappening from Channel 4 News

　

The selfie has been advertised endlessly in the mainstream media. Just about every celebrity has done one - and they have been promoted by charities to raise funds:

`Friends of Ibba Girls School` aims to raise 250,000 pounds by the end of the year to further buildings and teaching staff so that 40 more 10-year old girls can join the boarding school in February 2015.

`It`s all about the pencilpower selfies - take your own and put it on Twitter and Facebook and nominate your friends and family to do the same.` Friends of Ibba Girls School 

Cancer Research UK received more than 800,000 text donations in 24 hours after it began sharing the text code for donating. "Newsfeeds have been full to the brim of women posting bare-faced pictures for all to see in a bid to raise money for the charity, along with the hashtag."

 Facebook and Twitter   

After the promotion of the selfie along come the experts to explain the phenomenon, particularly to parents:

"But even though taking selfies is a part of growing up digital, that doesn’t mean all self-portraits are okay. Like all behaviors that children and teens test out, parents should help them to learn the limits and guidelines for which types of pictures are acceptable and which are not...

That includes whether others will perceive the pictures as suggestive or too indulgent. ... But such discussions are likely the most positive way to solve the issue — explaining to a child what "questionable" selfies are — why it’s not acceptable to send out a sexually suggestive picture — is more constructive than blocking their Facebook account or taking away their phone....

But increasingly, other experts say that selfies can also be a window into deeper adolescent issues. With Facebook becoming a prominent resource in young people’s’ therapy sessions, they could provide a useful jumping off point for addressing a teen’s or young adult’s self-perceptions. ..."Psychologically speaking, there may be some benefit to participating in sharing selfies because this practice is interwoven in our social culture and is a way to interact socially with others."

http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/06/why-selfies-matter/