You’ve painfully embraced envy-inducing holiday snaps, pictures of yummy brunches and the drunken self-portraits from good nights out. However, none of these will prepare you for the latest Instagram trend – #aftersex selfies.
Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. A number of couples have been sharing post-coital bliss on Instagram and they’re pretty awful.
Most of these pictures feature couples curled up together looking exhausted or smiling for the camera. In one image, the pair enjoy a cigarette while another features a horrified-looking cat.
Undoubtedly, these #aftersex selfies have received a fair amount of ridicule from various people.
Dr Chris Chesher, lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney, said the phenomenon of over-sharing is a new trend which is expanding as more people attempt to utilise new and unfamiliar platforms of social media.
“What happens when new cultural platforms come along, is the norms with how they should be used don’t exist until people start using them,” Dr Chesher said.
“Platforms like Facebook have been around for several years, so expectations on how it should be used have been gradually established.
“We’re coming into new faze when early adopters are more sensitive to the norm conditions of new platforms, but the problem with a widening base of users is that people coming to platforms now aren’t aware of the risks of over-sharing.”
Obviously, #aftersex isn’t the only popular hashtag which has been the subject of public scrutiny.
Dr Chesher said he believes that these controversial trends are a deliberate breach of taboos.
“I guess what happens is that when we have a kind of breach of conventions on what is a private topic or image, that becomes perceived as abuse of medium and it achieves what perpetrators set out to do, which is to cause a moral panic or reaction against it,” Dr Chesher said.
This selfie trend is certainly here to stay, as some charities have even aligned their awareness campaigns with taking selfies.
The #nomakeup selfie in particular, has become so popular that it’s raised over £8 million for a cancer charity in the UK.
Dr Chesher mentions that the trend’s popularity is a practical response to wanting to control your own image.
“It’s about having complete control over the production of your own image, as opposed to someone taking photo of you and having control over it, or asking someone to take a photo and then asking them to delete it,” Dr Cheser said.
What are your thoughts, dear readers?
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