Everyone knows what a selfie is. They are taking over today's culture, and everyone of every age has taken at least one in their life. You even see moms walking around taking selfies with their kids or dog or coworkers. They have just become a part of life.

I'm not a huge fan of the art of selfies. At least not anymore. I used to be the selfie queen. I'd have a mini photo shoot every day and create an archive of photos that I could use later on down the line on my social media (#SelfieSaturday was never an issue for me). I still have a few of them on my phone, but as of lately, I don't have any up-to-date photos that I took myself. I've lost interest in the activity of photographing myself. I wish it was just a trend that would eventually fade like "Alex from Target" or "I'm in me mum's car," but it looks like this trend is here to stay.

I'm almost positive the reason I hate them is because of how they are beginning to destroy the generations on social media. If taking selfies makes you feel good, great! Post away and make up captions to your heart's desire! However, most people who post their photos onto their social media are often looking for some kind of response. Will it get to the point where people will exploit themselves just for a few extra likes on Instagram?

I'm not trying to blow this out of proportion, but I can already see the art of selfies taking a toll on the youth. I overheard two young girls talking while in a food court at the mall, and the one girl was furious because her selfie online only got 98 likes. "I usually get into triple digits within the first few hours". She seemed devastated that her photo of herself didn't live up to the expectation she thought. A bit ridiculous--but is it? Her expectations were crushed all because not enough people liked her photo. Would she do something dumb in order to get more likes?

Maybe I don't like selfies because of the judgement that happens from within. Did that girl look at that selfie and begin to notice anything wrong? Maybe she thinks her nose looks too big or she becomes self conscious about the clothes she's wearing? She begins to put a negative view of herself in her mind, and she will forever be aware of these "flaws" when she tries to take photos further on down the line.

I fear that it will get to the point where girls will begin to hate how they look but continue to flaunt themselves in a scandalous manner online just to receive attention. I don't want girls (and even boys!) to feel they need attention and post scandalous photos in order to get attention even if it is negative. This isn't what the "self-love" movement is about. Social media is great, but is it a factor standing in the way of accepting yourself?

I mentioned I don't take selfies. I never fought for likes, and I just posted pictures of my life and because I felt like it. However, I was still noticing flaws in myself even if I wasn't searching for attention. I'm a curvier girl, and I've always been nervous to take pictures with certain, thicker parts of my body. If you look through my social media, you'll see I always find a way to cover my arms because of how big they are. I'm trying to love myself, but in selfies, it's all I become fixated on. I want to just be accepting of my body, but it's hard when you take a photo and the first thing I do is judge my features.

Think about it. You never take just one selfie. You take about 40, delete half, take another 20, then narrow it down to one you kind of like. Most people take that photo and begin to edit it. They remove bags from under their eyes, clear up their skin, make their teeth whiter, and just keep fixing until the photo looks too perfect. This isn't necessarily self love. It's loving what you'd look like if certain features on your face were fixed.

I am guilty of doing all of these things I mentioned. No one is perfect, and self love is so much easier said than done. I haven't taken a serious selfie in quite some time, and I feel it is beginning to help me learn to accept myself. That may not be the case for you. In fact, I know people who feel so good about taking photos of themselves, and please continue doing so if that's the case for you. I'm just here to say you don't need selfies to be perfect. It's about accepting the #NoFilter part of you because you deserve that happiness.