selfie: a self-portrait photograph

Alberto says: A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone.

Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Tumblr.

They are often casual, and are typically taken either with a camera held at arm's length or in a mirror.

The appeal of selfies comes from how easy they are to create and share, and the control they give self-photographers over how they present themselves.

Many selfies are intended to present a flattering image of the person, especially to friends whom the photographer expects to be supportive.

However, a 2013 study of Facebook users found that posting photos of oneself correlates with lower levels of social support from and intimacy with Facebook friends (except for those marked as Close Friends);

The result of the study suggests that "those who frequently post photographs on Facebook risk damaging real-life relationships."

The photo messaging application Snapchat is also largely used to send selfies. Some users of Snapchat choose to send intentionally-unattractive selfies to their friends for comedic purposes.

Posting intentionally unattractive selfies has also become common in the early 2010's—in part for their humor value, but in some cases also to explore issues of body image or as a reaction against the perceived narcissism or over-sexualization of typical selfies.

Selfies are popular among all genders and sexual orientations. The trend of selfies as a gaze to all genders has gone viral that is, links it to the rise of satisfaction derived from the views of photos that are self-taken and the idea that sexual attractiveness is the only way in which they can make themselves visible and recognized.

One opinion says that while selfies are often intended to give the photographer control over how their image is presented, posting images publicly or sharing them with others who do so may have the opposite effect—dramatically so in the case of revenge porn, where ex-lovers post sexually explicit photographs or nude selfies to exact revenge or humiliate their former lovers.