“Selfie” may have just made its way into Merriam-Webster’s dictionary — but is its day in the sun over? According to the Webby Awards, the selfie is dead. To which I say this: Hallelujah!
The 18th annual Webby Awards were held on May 21, and given that they’re sometimes thought of as the Oscars of the Internet, it makes sense that they would have their own “In Memoriam” segment. Unlike the yearly Oscars memorial video, though, this one didn’t make me cry — and in fact, I’m pretty sure it took everyone by surprise. How was it possible that the selfie, famous for standing up in the middle of a crowded room and waving its arms around while yelling “LOOK AT ME, EVERYONE! LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”, could so quietly wander off into the corner and die without anyone noticing?
I’ll give the segment credit for being relatively eye-opening, though; to be honest, I had no idea that some of these selfie trends existed. I mean, we all knew about the Presidential selfie, selfies at funerals, disaster selfies, and after sex selfies — but teacher in labor selfies? Unfit mother selfies? News to me. Although I will say this: The sloth selfie will never die. Ever. Because sloths.
Weirdly, though, the Webby Awards memorial missed a few key players. Please take a moment to join me in a moment of silence for the no-makeup selfie:
Selfies with homeless people (good riddance):
Skinneepix (also good riddance):
Miley Cyrus’ entire Instagram feed:
Ellen’s Oscar selfie:
And, of course, the MySpace pic:
Fare thee well, selfie. Now please, for the love of Instagram — go gentle into that good night.
