LAQU8401 (1)

THE SELFIE AND CROSS CULTURE COMMUNICATION An Essay

1. Introduction: The Oxford dictionary defines the word “Selfie” as “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smart phone or webcam and shared via social media:” (Oxford, 2015). Selfie is thus, as defined by Oxford as a photograph clicked by someone of themselves and posted on a social media site such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram etc. Selfie(s) are becoming quite a rage nowadays, from common men and women to celebrities and even some heads of states posting selfies of themselves on social media networks. As Mcluhan and the visual architect Quentin Fiore demonstrate to us in The Medium is the Massage (through pictures of circuit sheets, phonographs, books, film stills, daily paper clippings, mirrors, apparel, railroad tracks, and so forth.), media are constantly encapsulated, and, in that capacity, really obliged and particular. (Levin, 2014) One of the most punctual advanced models of media, Newton created the idea of the aether to portray the components behind any collaboration at a separation. (Levin, 2014)As the name infers, Newton's aether was initially developed as a methods for clarifying both his explores different avenues regarding the visual spectra of light and his translation of how light empowers sight – the impression of articles at an evacuate. In doing along these lines, it finished his entirely causal, material understanding of the universe by working as an universal open medium. (Levin, 2014) 2. Selfie in today’s Digital Era: Newton's hypothesis of the aether conflates the solitary and plural essences of medium and media through the equivalency of an universal substrate of intuitiveness with the different media (electromagnetic spectra – Newton's waves and beams of light) through which the aether is deductively noticeable and subject to trial confirmation and numerical work. (Levin, 2014) The work of mid-century data scholars, for example, Claude Shannon,

shows a comparable inclination to conflate the plural and particular implications of media and medium. Nonetheless, while Newton's hypothesis of the aether augmented visual media by making an interpretation of them into the primary medium of association, Shannon minimized media majority trying to make universal standards for electronic telecom. (Levin, 2014) This minimization takes the type of an auxiliary interpretation, from media into signs, by method for which the message is stripped of its media intentions so it may be transmitted and got electronically. (Levin, 2014) Shannon accordingly endeavors to make a sort of microcosmic Newtonian aether, an universal medium of correspondence contrived through methods of encoding and unraveling that evacuate media-particular data (the messages of other media) from the sign. Doing so permits Shannon to create a numerical model for the transmission of exposed "data," (Levin, 2014) inside particular points of confinement of velocity (bit-rates) and exactness (noise). While work by figures, for example, Shannon has demonstrated instrumental to the usage and on-going advancement of huge scale data foundations (like the web), the requirement on the performative parameters of interchanges innovations displays a propensity towards media solipsism in which the intentions of content, sound, picture and film advances are subsumed by the interpretation of media-messages into signs suitable for digital transmission. (Levin, 2014) This inclination is plainly communicated by Warren Weaver in first experience with Shannon's Mathematical Theory of Communication, in his claim that from the viewpoint of correspondences hypothesis the English dialect is half repetitive – a claim that, in lieu of the remarkably truncated types of English produced for contemporary digital correspondence, may appear an under-estimation. (Levin, 2014) The outcome is a general subversion of media, and a multiplication of arrangements (doc, mp3, jpg, pdf, mpeg, avi, and so forth.), (Levin, 2014) created to meet the execution prerequisites of squeezing,

data-trade rates, RAM and the stipulations of digital bases for data transmission.8 Data now supplant, in numerous occurrences, the nuanced separations in significance between media, with the web taking on the position of Newton's luminiferous aether, and standing as an universal standard of correspondence. 3. Ethnography: Running counter to the media reduction of the physical sciences, common scholars, antiquarians, and later researcher kept up the first Latin separation in the middle of medium and media. This can be seen in the way that French material and common thinkers consolidated Newton's hypothesis of the aether into their own oeuvres. (Hine, n.d)The French interpretation of aether is milieu, a term used to depict any particular material substrate. This definition is especially obvious in the work of Jean-Baptist Lamarck, who utilized it to depict how physical situations (milieus) influence morphogenetic change in living organisms. For Lamarck, a milieu spoke to an interesting physical substance (water, air, light), the interminable workings of which advise the horrible morphological attributes of animals. (Hine, n.d)In Lamarck's hypothesis of development, formative adjustments are dependably physically and ecologically obliged and particular to specific milieus.10 According to Lamarck's evolutionary model, the exceptional qualities procured by a living being as a result of its imbrications inside specific milieus may be exchanged to that creature's offspring, a methodology known as epigenesist. (Hine, n.d) This model of milieu was received and reached out by Ernst Haeckel in his meaning of "biology." (Hine, n.d) Haeckel authored the term to incorporate not just the material influences of ecological media (like water, light and air), additionally the different plant, creature and land datum (temperature, geography, and so on.), all of which encroach upon the morphological verbalization and survival of living organic entities. In Haeckel's terms, the

network of drives that include a living being's biology characterize the conditions to which that life form is "adapted." As such, nature outlines the formational connecting of media influencing natural development through their tireless impact. (Hine, n.d) Haeckel's consolidation of the Lamarckian model of milieus joins frameworks of Darwinian choice with those of epigenesist. (Hine, n.d)Generally, Haeckel contended for a crossover evolutionary model, in which the randomness of natural emphasis portrayed by Darwin is educated by the submersion of an organic entity (or gathering of living beings) inside settled associational and material systems. Haeckel's hypothesis of nature served to depict the transformational strengths bending natural development. (Hine, n.d) Haeckel acquainted a second idea with record for the constancy of structure after some time – the biogenetic law. (Hine, n.d) In its least difficult definition, this law expresses that ontogeny (the current morphology of a life form) summarizes phylogeny (the recorded manifestations of the phylum). Haeckel showed this law through an embryonic succession, in which each one phase of growth is checked by an alternate set of traits, until the current morphology is attained to (Hine, n.d). This gestational procedure serves as a restricting component for morphological deviation, even as the different and variable powers of environment work towards expanded formal separation. Haeckel's speculations of nature and restatement in this way represent both the chronicled coherence of structure spoke to by an organic entity's phylogeny, and the unobtrusive varieties revealed by a creature's ontogeny (developing structure). While the particulars of Haeckel's speculations have not survived the development of the natural sciences, the basic compels that he depicted are still an essential part of contemporary evolutionary and environmental science. At the hereditary level, the genome assigns the inborn natural constraints illuminating an organic entity's ability for transformation or advancement; it serves as both a variable lattice taking into consideration conceivable evolutionary transfiguration and as a truly created arrangement of restatement

binds life forms to their hereditary legacy. Alternately, ecologies, which portray systems of affiliation going from terrible local attributes, for example, atmosphere, geography and geology, to close biotic groups, for example, those characterized by sustenance connections, give the ecological connection to potential future adjustment, as obliged by frameworks of Darwinian rivalry. (Hine, n.d) Connected to what may be known as the mechanical phylum, Haeckel's ideas of biological advancement and hereditary reiteration help portray both the natural chronicled inactivity of media, and their ability for development. (Hine, n.d)Accordingly, the evolutionary capability of any medium is characterized by horde variables natural to the medium all things considered, including its material organization, fundamental hierarchical standard and/or one of a kind usefulness. Notwithstanding these characteristic evolutionary parameters are the outward compels of media ecologies, for example, material accessibility, the headway or elimination of specific types of assembling, the rise of contending or reciprocal media ideal models and the improvement and support of essential frameworks. The same may be said of media antiques, in the same way as the selfie, whose late wealth speaks to a conversion of new media (cell phones and tablets), all the more spatially disseminated and speedier remote systems and professed social proclivities towards online representation toward oneself and development. The later have been energized through the ubiquity of interpersonal interaction destinations like Facebook and Twitter and the application ecologies that undeniably help them. (Hine, n.d) Yet, even as selfies are enmeshed inside rising ideal models, such versatile figuring and person to person communication, they likewise display a propensity towards innovative and tasteful restatement, including the utilization of channels that copy more seasoned photographic advances or the repeat of entrenched and mainstream stylish tropes. This reassertion of customary structures not just

retards the evolutionary advancement of the Selfie, additionally educates the development of new ideal models.

4. Netnography: As unrealistic as it may appear, selfies help reinforce companionships. Selfies aren't fundamentally some unusual rage or a viral pattern among young people. While they might in some cases simply be a type of young vanity, it is accepted that they are vital in the digital age as a manifestation of correspondence, proclamation toward oneself and documentation. The new social world is on the web. Web infiltration rates proceed with their worldwide ascension. (Kozinets, 2010)Sensibly, we can say that over a billion individuals now take an interest in different types of social networking. We are amidst an innovation drove mutual upheaval. The suggestions for advertisers, showcasing scientists, and directors of all stripes are boundless. Customers are offering assorted types of feelings and data with one another about amazing panoply of items, retailers, and brands. (Kozinets, 2010) The online environment offers us about boundless access to customer to-purchaser interchanges that are: Applicable and itemized. Got in an inconspicuous way, and realistic in an opportune, liable, and productive way. This data is crude. It is true. (Kozinets, 2010)Advertisers have reacted by starting to incorporate online networking with their showcasing plans, their publicizing and special fights. However as far as purchaser knowledge, showcasing is overwhelmed by the same old strategies. The move to manufacture rich understanding with the cornucopia of online buyer data is simply starting.

Connected to business and showcasing needs, netnography constructs profound customer bits of knowledge that give: All-grasping depictions of the commercial center sections, item groupings, trait sets Realistic perception of online correspondence classes, patterns, images, pictures Social understandings of buyer decision influencers, (Kozinets, 2010) adopters, WOM properties Natural perspectives of brand importance deciphering bona fide purchaser dialect and terms, and in addition visual and varying media investigation Embedded disclosures of purchaser development situated in lead client, and innovativeness Contrast netnography with the center gathering or study data commanding the universe of customer knowledge research. Focus gatherings offer point by point and significant data. In any case they are inspired, prominent and totally manufactured. (Kozinets, 2010) The one-time bunch progresses are manufactured and bizarre. (Kozinets, 2010)Surveys are simulated, prominent, and evoked. (Kozinets, 2010)We frequently have no chance to get of knowing whether our review questions are significant to the purchasers' reality. Both center gatherings and studies can be costly. Think about that as a national set of center gatherings can undoubtedly run in the many thousands. Netnography is the Marketer's Secret Weapon How Social Media Understanding Drives Innovation. There are right now just a handful of far-located organizations that lead netnography. (Kozinets, 2010) Despite the fact that it is presently all inclusive secured in the scholastic universe of shopper and showcasing research, the very idea of online ethnography is still obscure to most advertisers, item chiefs, advertising specialists, and item advancement and shopper knowledge pros. You have to peruse it in light of the fact that netnography offers a sharp new shaft in the shopper examination tremble, a compelling new device for the advertising workbench. Then again, on the off chance that you favour Sun Tzu's "The Art of War"… Netnography is the advertiser's mystery weapon for.

There are various approaches to study consumer behaviour in the online social world. Here are a couple of the real ones: We can review individuals and get some information about their practices. We can track and follow online practices and clickstreams. We can set up online center gatherings, boards, and manufactured groups. We can code, inventory and sort data. (Kozinets, 2010) The way to netnography, and what makes it unique in relation to systems like center gatherings, overviews, CRM data models, clickstream following, and even simulated groups, is this: Netnography is centered on social bits of knowledge. Netnography is diverse on the grounds that it treats online correspondences not as minor "substance," however as social communication, as installed representation of significance, and as social curio. Netnography gives careful consideration to setting. Netnography looks not simply at the words introduce in social connections, however at the gathering components, the communicator qualities, the dialect, the history, the significance, the sort of cooperation. (Kozinets, 2010) It inspects textual styles, separating, images, writings, pictures, photographs, and features. And, in the same way as its ancestor ethnography: It is naturalistic, after social declaration to its online appearances. It is immersive, drawing the specialist into a captivated, deeper understanding. It is unmistakable, trying to pass on the rich reality of contemporary shoppers' lives, with the majority of their covered up social implications and additionally their vivid representation, drawings, images, sounds, photographs, and features. (Kozinets, 2010)It is multi-technique, joining great with different techniques, both online and off, for example, interviews and videography. Like all techniques, netnography regularly works stunningly better when triangulated with other wellsprings of knowledge. Case in point, supplement netnography with focused on overviews to accept the replicability of discoveries. It is versatile, moving easily from newsgroups to sites, wikis, virtual planets, informal communication destinations, podcasting and portable online/logged off groups, and whatever else the future has in store.

As any individual who has utilized a web search tool to examine a theme knows, Internet data is simple. Sort the brand name "Listerine" into the principle Google web search tool and you will be confronted with pretty nearly 907,000 hits. It is generally simple for somebody to download a couple of dozen of these pages and gathering posts about the brand, survey and condense them, and then to pass themselves off as an online anthropologist. Notwithstanding, something would be absent. There are prone to be no less than two noteworthy issues with the 907,000 or something like that hits about the Listerine brand, or some other famous brand, item, or business sector class that we may be occupied with researching. (Kozinets, 2010) In the first place, there are a wide range of interchanges going ahead on the double, and this makes discovering the examination fitting interchanges troublesome. (Kozinets, 2010) There is publicizing, official correspondences, spam, advancements, and reposts existing together with the social, buyer to-customer collaborations that drive netnography. Google just provides for us the initial 1,000 hits. (Kozinets, 2010)And even with those thousand hits, we confront a circumstance of wealth. More is not generally better. Regardless of the possibility that we were to rise above the regular web search tool's constraint, the possibility of physically downloading and perusing a huge number of online collaborations is an overwhelming time duty. Netnography requires the analyst to explore the scope of applicable social action happening in online social spaces. These social spaces have been becoming huge both in volume and in assortment. On account of these two truths, I have discovered it progressively significant to have quality programming instruments as a subordinate to netnography. (Kozinets, 2010) 5. Selfies in the real world: When we first hear the expression "Selfie," what do we consider? Is it accurate to say that it is a young lady with a "duck face" at a gathering on Facebook, or a fellow directing his iPhone at the mirror toward record his late workout? MySpace was the first mass informal

organization. Then again, the Selfie was initially begat on Flickr in 2004. Presently everybody's dashboard on every person to person communication site is loaded with photographs individuals took of themselves and their companions. Each one revive of the "Investigate" page on Instagram guarantees an alternate 50 selfies transferred inside 10 seconds. Selfie society, however shocking it may appear to numerous people, has gotten to be genuinely pertinent throughout today's high school era. (Miller, 2014) With the advancement of cell phone cams, especially the Samsung Galaxy and IPhone, youngsters are joined by grown-ups and kids in the mission for every day Instagram posts, hourly Facebook overhauls, and moment by-moment Snap chats. Obviously, one needs to ask, what urges us to take pictures of ourselves to send to our companions or post on an open discussion? It is safe to say that it is immaculate narcissism, or more than that? It is seen that young ladies who take every day selfies to post to Instagram. As of October 2013, there have been about 40 million posts containing "#Selfie" under their labels. (Miller, 2014)Instagram was the origination of the Selfie, as men and ladies started posting pictures of their surroundings, as well as themselves. (Miller, 2014) For friends who live apart, Snapchatting is really one of the best manifestations of correspondence. (Miller, 2014) Despite everything it considers a cosy companionship, on the grounds that we can see one another's faces consistently, rather than simply messaging or talking. (Miller, 2014)There's something extraordinary about Snapchatting in that way, on the grounds that its unique in relation to simply words flying over and over again. Like Instagram, its pictures from genuine living. Snapchatting is extraordinary on the grounds that it is an eye to eye trade that doesn't include the dedication of Skype. One can undoubtedly

have a "discussion" with somebody for the duration of the day essentially by how we send pictures over and over again. (Miller, 2014) Selfies come in different styles and angles; let us take an illustrative example of some kind of selfies. (Chosen from Twitter) Smiling Selfie:

Work Out Selfie:

Celebrity Selfie:

Nude Selfie:

Selfies with Different Poses:

Selfies with Friends:

Selfies with Pets:

With the help of the above illustrations, we have seen various types of Selfies. While some people prefer to take smiling selfies, others strike a pose and others want to take naked selfies. Some people prefer selfies after a workout to flaunt their bodies, while others may include their pets or close friends. Even celebrities are becoming more and more active when it comes to joining the selfie culture. Who can forget the famous Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie that included Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper? 6. Selfie Culture in Different Countries:

Berl in

Los Ang ele s

Sa o Pa ul o 53 %

Parameter s

Ban gko k

Ne w Yor k

Male

42.3 0%

44.9 0%

52.7 0%

50.7 0%

46.2 0%

73%

44.8 0%

Female

57.7 00%

55.1 00%

47.3 00%

49.3 00%

53.8 00%

27.0 00%

55.2 00%

171

128 6

117 0

271

99

52

105 9

107 909

225 038 1

925 289

128 101 0

573 88

156 132

148 105 2

145

107 8

901

240

84

42

918

186

157

178

177

178

178

123

1.17 931 034 5

1.19 294 990 7

1.29 855 715 9

1.12 916 666 7

1.17 857 142 9

1.23 809 523 8

1.15 359 477 1

17 0 1.3 05 72 6

0.91 935 483 9

8.19 108 280 3

6.57 303 370 8

1.53 107 344 6

0.55 617 977 5

0.29 213 483 1

8.60 975 609 8

631. 046 783

174 9.90 746

790. 845 299

472 6.97 417

579. 676 767

300 2.53 846

139 8.53 824

Total Tweets Total Audienc e Contribu tors Measure d time Tweets / Contribu tor Frequen cy (tweet per hour) Audienc e Per Tweet

Lon don

Pari s

Beij ing

Sy dn ey

M os co w

63. 90 % 36. 10 0% 18 4

56. 40 % 43. 60 0% 15 1

13 51 72

43 46 7

191 029 98

14 4

11 6

399 1

18 4 1.2 77 77 8

17 3 1.3 01 72 4

177 6 1.12 753 695 8

7.5 11 76 5

1

0.8 72 83 2

2.53 378 378 4

15 19. 24

73 4.6 30

28 7.8 60

424 5.11 066

47. 00 0% 12 77 19 40 07 8 97 8

Tot al Wor ld

48.7 0% 51.3 00% 450 0

6

5

1

7

2

4

7

4

9

7

The above data has been retrieved from the website www.followthehashtag.com. A simple keyword “Selfie” was used to check the frequency of selfies posted on Twitter. Various cities in the world were examined individually, and then as a whole. We found that Females post more Selfies than their male counterparts in various cities in the world, and the world ratio of Male vis-à-vis females was in favour of females posting more selfies. London, Sydney and Moscow were the exceptions among the cities examined, and Paris was marginally skewed in terms of males posting more selfies than females.

The measured time of the tweets ranged between 123 hours to 186 hours in the cities examined, with a total of 1776 hours for the world (including cities not examined). We found that the world averaged approximately 2.5 tweets per hour. This frequency was highly elevated in cities such as New York, London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo with each ranging above or close to 8 tweets per hour. On the other hand, cities such as Bangkok,

Berlin, Beijing and Sydney were considerably less frequent in posting Selfies, with the average frequency being 1 selfie or less per hour.

Almost all the cities had users posting more than one selfie of them, and even the world average had the same contributors posting more than one selfie. The world averaged about 4245 people viewing per tweet. Almost all the cities examined, with the exception of Paris were considerably below the world average.

The data analyzed by selfiecity.net tells us how different cultures and countries have adapted to the Selfie culture. It was found that Bangkok (Thailand) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) have the highest smile ratios at 0.68 and 0.64 respectively. (Smile ratio was calculated on the basis of a smile score when people took Selfies. (Selfiecity, 2015) Moscow (Russia) stood at the lowest amongst the countries analyzed with a smile ratio of 0.53. (Selfiecity, 2015) It was also found that women, especially in Sao Paulo, had more expressive selfies than any other part in the world, with a head tilt of approximately 16.9° (Selfiecity, 2015). Moreover, women were found to have a more expressive or a bigger head tilt almost in every country analyzed. 7. Conclusions: As discussed in the course of this paper, Selfies are becoming more and more popular with the help of technological advanced gadgets such as smart phones and tablets. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram are some of the leaders when it comes to posting Selfies by people. The Selfie (as discussed earlier) has become a global phenomenon and is extremely popular, especially amongst children and young adults, with a median age of 23.7 years. (Selfiecity, 2015). Additionally, if one were to carefully dissect the demographics of the Selfie culture,

we would find that women are generally more active in clicking selfies than their male counterparts. (Selfiecity, 2015) However, these figures may be misleading in a sense of totality. It is found that only 4% of total users on various social networking websites actually click selfies. (Selfiecity, 2015). Major world cities such as Bangkok, Berlin, New York, Sao Paulo and Moscow are the leading in terms of their people clicking Selfies. (Selfiecity, 2015). Most of the Selfie tweets on Twitter.com are from users who have in excess of 60,000 followers. The Selfie culture is here to stay, for the time being anyway. However, there have been various outcry in the recent past when youths have clicked Selfies at funerals and even Nazi Concentration Camp sites. Citing these events as misguided teenage phenomenon, people have come down heavily on these youths. However, some people argue that clicking Selfies have been in vogue ever since the camera was first introduced.

References Hine, C. (n.d) 'VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY', Centre for Research into Innovation, Culture and Technology. Kozinets, R.V. (2010) 'Netnography: The Marketer’s Secret Weapon', NETBASE, March. Levin, A. (2014) the Selfie in the age of Digital Recursion, [Online], Available: http://ivc.lib.rochester.edu/portfolio/the-selfie-in-the-age-of-digital-recursion/ [05 January 2015].

Miller, C. (2014) Selfie Culture, 24 January, [Online], Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-miller/teens-and-selfies_b_4218454.html [05 January 2015]. Oxford (2015) selfie, [Online], Available: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/selfie [05 January 2015]. Selfiecity (2015) Data Sets, [Online], Available: http://selfiecity.net/#dataset [05 January 2015].