Skip to main content

Selfeed website lets you follow all Instagram uploads tagged ‘#selfie’ in real-time

selfeed website lets follow instagram uploads tagged selfie real time screenshot

The “selfie” is a very interesting contemporary social phenomenon. It is descriptive of the way that social interaction works these days. On one hand, the world is becoming more and more connected thanks to technology, but on the other hand, the individual is becoming more and more isolated. Instead of “real” (that is, non-electronic) social interaction, a lot of our daily lives now takes place on the Internet, and the selfie might be seen as a way to bridge the gap between our individual electronic isolation and our inherited need to interact with others.

The selfie is also descriptive of the narcissistic and self-centered personality traits that huge parts of our society show. It is a means of showing off, in much the same way that status symbols work. But at the same time, the modern selfie culture also shows how fragile our individual self-perception and self-esteem are. The selfie serves as a means to receive reassuring feedback about our appearance in a society where the “perfect” look is constantly advertised in the media.

At the conceptual website Selfeed, all of this comes together. By displaying Instagram photos tagged “#selfie” in real-time, Selfeed creates a constant stream of single-serving icons of self-reverence. Each picture being displayed for mere fractions of a second, Selfeed amalgamates this steady flow of individuality into a critical mass, impenetrable by the viewer. It is hard following the fast-paced change of images, with only one out of a dozen leaving an impression for a short while, until it is replaced by the next.

“We created it because we wanted it to exist,” Selfeed’s creators explain to TIME. “Most of the selfies that are aggregated are self-portraits with one singular figure. On Selfeed, these figures exist alone, but together.” The beauty of Selfeed is that while it is almost like an exhibition, thanks to its dynamic nature it isn’t limited to the bits that its curators saw fit to be shown to the world. Selfeed gives a raw and unaltered look at the reality of the selfie culture – sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful, but always captivating and mesmerizing.

(Via PetaPixel)

Editors' Recommendations

Felix Esser
Felix is a freelance tech journalist with a strong focus on photography. Based out of central Germany, he contributes to…
DJI’s 2022 drone contest offers record prize pool
A photo taken from a drone.

Leading drone maker DJI has teamed up with the SkyPixel online community for its eighth annual photo and video contest.

Whether you’re an experienced drone pilot or an absolute beginner still finding your way, the contest is the perfect opportunity to send your machine skyward in a test of your creative skills.

Read more
How $80 of photo processing software magically saved me thousands
photo editing topaz labs denoise ai phil camera

It's a good time to be a photographer, whether you're just starting out and really don't have any idea what you're doing, or if you're a seasoned pro looking to try something new.

The gear is better than ever, making even entry-level bodies better than what the previous generation started out with. Software options make cataloging and processing your photos faster and less destructive, so you can revisit things for years and give old pics new life.

Read more
Sony A7 III mirorless camera is $300 off for Black Friday
Sony Alpha a7 III Mirrorless front view.

There are a lot of great Best Buy Black Friday deals going on right now, and whether you're looking for TVs, laptops, or even headphones, there's a little something for everybody. Of course, many folks may not realize that Best Buy has some fantastic deals on high-end photography gear, such as this Sony Alpha a7 III mirrorless camera. While it usually goes for a whopping $2,200, Best Buy had brought it down to $1,900, and while that relatively doesn't seem like much, you could always spend the $300 savings on a new lens.

Why you should buy the Sony Alpha a7 III
The Sony Alpha a7 III is a camera with so much tech that it might as well be three different cameras. It has excellent dynamic range, low-light performance, and high-speed performance, and the full-frame sensors make the images look absolutely stunning. Interestingly, the a7 III manages to do an excellent job at both low and high ISOs, the latter of which can go as high as 51,200 non-boosted, which, granted, adds a lot of noise, but noise reduction helps with that. As for the video, well, sadly, it's not as impressive, at least in terms of advancements in image quality, and while it can do 8-bit 4K at 30 frames per second, it's no longer ahead of the pack in that regard, like the Panasonic Lumix GH5 is with its 400Mbps 10-bit codec and 60-fps 4K.

Read more