THE SELFIE EPIDEMIC IN INDIA AND AROUND THE WORLD Report compiled by www.mindshiftinteractive.com

The word seie was included in the Oxford Dictionary on 19th November, 2013 Also, was declared as the International Word Of The Year in 2013, from a list of over 150 million words! The frequency of usage of the word in the English language had increased by 17000% since 2012

(n.) a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website

REASONS FOR CLICKING SELFIES Given that social media platforms are breeding grounds for flattery and support from friends in the form of likes and comments, its no surprise that the term gained popularity amongst various age groups The opinions and the decisions of the youth are driven by what their friends think of them. How they are perceived and accepted is defined by the placed they go to, the clothes they wear, and even the lip shade for that matter. All this gets covered through a selfie, giving them a boost in the way they see themselves and present themselves in front of others. The youth develop themselves on based on social acceptance through likes, comments and shares, which boosts their morale, giving them the confidence of being accepted

SOME SELFIE STATS

According to a 2013 survey, two-thirds of Australian women aged 1835 years take selfies with the purpose of posting it on Facebook, the leader when it comes to the platform where the largest number of selfies are posted Samsungs poll displays that 30% of the photos taken by people in the age of 18 to 24 years are Selfies and that resonates louder with Instagram proudly highlighting the existence of 35 million selfies on the platform Duck Selfies are claimed to perform 1122% better than regular selfies on Instagram

#SelfieWars

Date taken: March 3, 2014 Occasion: Oscars It became the most retweeted tweet ever, garnering 3.4 million retweets. It also brought about the current trend of taking selfies in large groups, or #Ussies Date taken: December 10, 2013 Occasion: Nelson Mandela memorial service Barack Obama posed for a selfie with David Cameron and Helle Thorning Schmidt, proving that selfies can be taken anywhere, regardless of the place or the occasion Date taken: March 19, 2014 Occasion: Weekly general audience, Vatican His Holiness stopped to snap a selfie with two newlyweds. Surprisingly, it isnt the only encounter the Pope has had with the front camera.

Selfie as a hashtag grew more than 200% in usage since January 2013 while making way for adaptations in the form of #selfiesunday, #selfienation and some rather interesting hashtags doing the rounds like #belfie (bottom selfie), #aftersex selfies (with people snuggled up to their lovers) and ofcourse the #OscarSelfie , which brought about the trend of taking photographs in large groups and is also termed as #ussie

Selfies and their relevance to brands

With selfies becoming more popular every second, the opportunity for marketers to tap into this ever- growing audience to get their attention has increased greatly. The keyword here continues towards being the essence of social media gaining insights about your consumers by listening to them and decoding what they truly want, and how they want it. This, merged with understanding mindsets behind a selfie, and how to go about creating a connect with your brand would ensure success to the brand

#BrandSelfies

Selfies were used as a route to inspire through a series of videos celebrating real beauty and showcasing how social media helps redefine beauty. The videos highlighted how mothers and daughters compare their perceived flaws to attributes others compliment them on In India, Dove launched the #DoveSelfie contest inviting women to take a selfie of their best hairstyle as per the theme of the day and post it across Facebook, Twitter or Instagram The video garnered a total of 9 lakh views and helped create a mindshift amongst each of the individuals interviewed on how they saw themselves

Highlighting their targeted at the entire family, & tapping the Indian sentiment of taking photographs with family members, Max Bupa encouraged Twitter audiences to take a family selfie with their loved ones Insurance plan With participations from influential tweeps, the campaign garnered a total outreach of 244,000, driving further awareness of the brand on Twitter while giving it a boost 500 targeted followers within 4 days

In order to promote the brands latest backpack, the campaign highlighted how everything is done backwards in todays times, and included the concept of reverse selfies, where one had to show off their unique style with their backs facing the camera either with the help of a mirror or get it clicked by someone.

With the limitations alcohol brands have in marketing themselves, this was an excellent strategy towards connecting with the youth and creating brand evangelism Leveraging smartphone users and with the attempt to help people take better selfies, the contest roped in ace Fashion Photographer, Atul Kasbekar and launched an Android & iOS application with filters to enhance the look of the Selfie taken, along with tips from the photographer himself

AROUND THE WORLD In an effort to raise awareness of the exhibits and collections at museums around the world, January 22, 2014 was dubbed #MuseumSelfieDay . This global initiative generated a variety of artistic and unique images, all with the goal of encouraging people to visit and support museums Star Wars launched their Instagram account in 2013 with a comical Darth Vader selfie with the caption, Another day at the office. #StarWars #DarthVader #selfies #gpom. In the first four hours, the account reportedly gained 30,000 followers. Till date, the image has over 63,000 likes Inspired by the slefie trend, the New York Public library had installed photo booths at its 42nd Street and mid-Manhattan locations as a way for guests to capture and share a fun image from their visit. Visitors were encouraged to share their selfies and group shots on their social media channels.

the future of selfies

Apple has embarked on a mission to allow their users to take the highest quality of selfies from their smartphones They have also started a new section in the iTunes app store dedicated to selfie sharing apps

Instagram sees a daily traffic of 7.3 Million users, and an average of 60 Million photos uploaded daily Being acquired by Facebook makes it more seamless and susceptible of owning and leading the selfie domain for years to come

THE SELFIE MIRROR Digital agency iStrategyLabs came up with this social media innovation. Dubbed S.E.L.F.I.E (The Self Enhancing Live Feed Image Engine), the mirror actually consists of a Mac mini hidden behind the 2-way mirror, a web cam and LED lights embedded behind it. Triggered by simply standing in front of the mirror and holding a smile, hidden LEDs indicate a countdown, then simulate a flash as your image is taken. The photo is then automatically posted to Twitter (with a watermark/logo). How does it work? The facial recognition software installed on the Mac works to recognize you and initiates the photo- taking process. The built-in LED lights are designed to indicate to you when the photo will be taken so you're ready with thatgorgeous white smile.

SHOTS OF ME Shots of me is social networking application, made exclusively for clicking and sharing selfies. With Shots of me, the user must take their photos using the front-facing camera, and just like Snapchat, you can only shoot pictures within the application; no uploading better pictures taken earlier. But what Shots of me doesnt have is what actually sets it apart: you cant comment on the photos you see in the app. Teen pop-star Justin Beiber has invested $1.1 million in the social network.

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