PINOYs love taking photos.
you are in a group dinner. they just served your fav sizzling tuna, sweet-and-sour pork and salted crab. you realize you have to capture this, you got your smartphone and asked your friend to take a picture of you with the food. you post them in Instagram with the text, “Yummy!” (your friends like it, drools over, and comment)
you try out a fantastic dress you plan to wear on your friend’s birthday, you take a shot and post it on Facebook tagging your friend saying, “I’m ready to parrrtyyy!” (your friends see this, likes it, and comment)
you just got out of the gym all sweaty, after months of working out you wanted to show off your now bulging muscles and abs. you take pride of your accomplishment, facing the mirror, a self-portrait and a post in Twitter is in order (your friends see this and tags it as their favorite)
under the scorching sun, piña-colada on your left hand, and the blue waves of Boracay in the background, you look up and get a shot of yourself saying, “This is paradise!” and upload in Facebook (your friends see this, likes it, and comment)
its 11am and you just woke up, still lying in bed you take a photo of yourself. thought this is your way of saying, “Good morning!” (your friends see this, some liked it, and some commented you are a bum)
the list goes on..
the rise of social media in recent years plus the easy access of internet, advanced camera and smart phones has changed the way PINOYs share details of their daily lives.
in fact many have been making abuzz about those who take “selfie” shots recently. #me became the third-most popular hashtag in Instagram. some celebs even make fun of those who does this a lot, others warned saying selfie shots border narcissism and may be a sign of a mental condition or leads to selfie-loathing or depression (hmm hala ka!)
“selfie” was first coined by photographer Jim Krause in 2005. urbandictionary describe it as “a strange phenomenon in which the photographer is also the subject of the photograph; when someone takes a picture of themselves looking ugly or funny and sends it to their friends to get them to laugh. People who do this are not trying to look good and usually don’t. The typical selfie face involves a peace sign and duck lips.”
we have nothing against selfies, since all is fair in web and war 🙂 this may just be a way for others to express themselves. although some may really be bordering narcissism, or sharing too much of everything to the public. worse is they implicitly expect their posts “being liked.” so if you get affected when your posts seem unpopular, you may want to start assessing yourself why other’s approval is important to you.
PINOYs love taking photos, which at times is synonymous to our love for karaoke. however, more often than not it is still best we see and enjoy things as they are and not lose focus by taking shots on our phones to enjoy that moment which matters most.
set it good 