We Love Our Own Selfies, But Not Other People's, Survey Finds

According to Google statistics, there are at least 93 million selfies taken a day. But despite the undeniable ubiquity of the photographic style, most people aren't fond of seeing so many selfies online and elsewhere, according to a new study.

In case you're unfortunately — or fortunately — unaware of what a selfie is, it's a photo one takes of oneself, with or without others, typically using a phone's camera. Fans of the selfie can use a "selfie stick" to extend their reach, taking photos of themselves from farther away.

Since the age of social media dawned, selfies have proliferated.

Researchers Sarah Diefenbach and Lara Christoforakos, in the department of psychology at the University of Munich, conducted a survey of 238 Europeans, published in Frontiers, on their attitudes toward selfies. If you're not a fan of selfies, you'll find yourself in good company:

• 62-67 percent of people said they thought selfies had the potential for negative consequences, like a lower self-esteem
• 82 percent of respondents said they would rather regular photos rather than selfies online
• Nevertheless, 77 percent of people said they took selfies regularly

So even though people don't seem to enjoy selfies that much, and many think they could be actively harmful, they're still wildly popular.

People, it seems, are generally more critical of other people's motives for taking selfies than of their own.

"Own selfies were rated as more self-ironic and thought of as more authentic than those of others," the authors write. "In contrast, others were assumed to use selfies for self-presentation and have fun while taking selfies to a higher degree than oneself.he authors wrote."

They continue: "For example, 40% claimed self-irony for their own selfies, but only 13% perceived self-irony in others’ selfies. In contrast, 90% declared others’ selfies as means of self-presentation, but only 46% attested this to own selfies."

The authors dubbed this the "selfie bias."

Photo credit: Seniju