WORLD

Makati City, known as the financial center of the Philippines, can now boast another distinction: It is the Selfie Capital of the World. (Time)

Use our resources to explore self-identity through media.

Discussion Ideas

• Watch our “picture of practice” video “Understanding Self through Media.” Seventh-grade teacher Karen Daley works to create “media-to-self and peer-to-self connections.” Adapt the classroom discussion for the Time article on selfies.
  • What is culture? How is culture expressed by individuals?
    • One student says culture is a person’s group identity. Students mention cuisine, language, and symbolism such as flags and corporate brands. In the video the class watches, Sudanese immigrants talk about showers and rented apartments as part of Western cultural identity.
  • Do you think selfies are a form of cultural identity? Why or why not?
    • Some people think selfies express cultural identity through a direct connection between an individual and a place and time.
    • “Selfie King” James Franco (yes, that James Franco) thinks that these casual self-portraits are “Mini-me’s that we send out to give others a sense of who we are”—and that’s an honest and good thing.
    • Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a businessman blogging for the Guardian, thinks selfies reflect a culture of narcissism. “Showing off has never been easier” or more celebrated, he says.

• Look at Time‘s beautiful maps of top ten “selfie cities,” but don’t look closely at the long list of the other 90 that follow. Read about how the data for the maps was collected. (It’s in the short “Methodology” part of the Time article.) Then take a look at our MapMaker Interactive. What themes and map layers might help predict other “selfie cities”?
  • The “Population and Culture” theme includes a map layer on population density. Data in the Time magazine article was limited to large urban areas (at least 250,000 residents), so identifying big cities is a big clue.
  • The “Environment and Society” theme has two layers that might further narrow down the search for “selfie cities.”
    • Lights at Night (one of our most popular map layers) might give an indication of urban areas that are relatively industrialized. These regions are connected to a reliable grid of electricity, which often indicates higher levels of income and available technology. Time admits “smart phone adoption rates and median income” are important factors indicated by “people who take selfies per capita.”
    • The Human Footprint map layer displays areas were “human progress and development have permanently altered ecosystems.” Perhaps even more than Lights at Night, the Human Footprint layer might be a good indicator of “selfie cities.”
  • Check to see if these clues correspond to the other top 100 “selfie cities.”
    • Remember, these are just general indicators, and important, intangible factors such as national, family, and personal traditions; political culture; local interests; and individual attitudes cannot really be predicted by these maps. One Manila resident attributes his city’s selfie dominance to being “Sexy and Social”—which can be difficult to map!

• Look at these truly spectacular graphics from selfiecity.net. These wonks classify data by factors such as gender, age, head tilts, and smiles. Great stuff. Why do women take more selfies than men? Why to people in Bangkok and Sao Paulo smile so much? What does a tilted head mean?