The Meanings of the Selfie
詹姆斯·弗兰科：论自拍的意义

Selfies are something new to me, but as I have become increasingly addicted to Instagram, I have been accused of posting too many of them. I was called out on the “Today” show, and have even been called the selfie king.

自拍对我来说虽然是新鲜事物，但我对Instagram越来越上瘾，别人都说我发了太多自拍。《今日秀》(Today)邀请我上节目，我甚至被称为“自拍王”。

Maybe this is so, but only because I’ve learned that the selfie is one of the most popular ways to post — and garner the most likes from followers. The likes spin out of control for selfies of me and my two handsome brothers, especially Dave, the other actor, whose image pulls in its own legion of teenage fans.

也许真是如此，但那只是因为我发现自拍是最受欢迎的帖子之一，也是最讨粉丝喜欢的。粉丝的喜欢让我开始失控，拍了很多自己和两个英俊兄弟的自拍照，特别是戴夫(Dave)，他也是演员，他的照片吸引了很多十几岁的粉丝。

I can see which posts don’t get attention or make me lose followers: those with photos of art projects; videos telling the haters to go away (in not so many words); and photos with poems. (Warning: Post your own, and you’ll see how fast people become poetry specialists and offer critiques like “I hate you, you should die.”)

我能看出来哪种帖子没人关注或者会让我失去粉丝：那些带有艺术项目照片的帖子；那些让仇恨者离去的视频（无需太多语言）；那些带有诗歌的照片（警告：如果你发布自己的诗歌，就会发现人们能飞快地变成诗歌评论家，写出“我厌恶你，你应该去死”这样的评论）。

But a well-stocked collection of selfies seems to get attention. And attention seems to be the name of the game when it comes to social networking. In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible.

但丰富的自拍系列似乎能引起人们的关注。而关注似乎是社交网络中最重要的东西。在如今这个年代，点一下鼠标你就能得到太多信息，所以能够吸引观众在海量信息中阅读和观看你的信息真的是一种能力。电影公司希望人们关注它们的电影，职业作家希望人们关注他们的新书，报纸也希望得到人们的关注——天哪，关注是每个人都想要的东西。关注就是权力。如果你是人们感兴趣的人，那自拍就提供了某种非常有力量的东西，因为它几乎是从最私密的角度拍摄的。

We speak of the celebrity selfie, which is its own special thing. It has
value regardless of the photo’s quality, because it is ostensibly an intimate shot of someone whom the public is curious about. It is the prize shot that the paparazzi would kill for, because they would make good money; it is the shot that the magazines and blogs want, because it will get the readers close to the subject.

我们经常谈论名人自拍，它本身就是个特别的东西。尽管照片质量不佳，但它还是很有价值，因为从表面上看它是公众感兴趣者的私密照。它是狗仔队愿意拼命得到的战利品，因为这些照片很值钱；它是杂志和博客想要的照片，因为它能让读者贴近名人。

And the celebrity selfie is not only a private portrait of a star, but one also usually composed and taken by said star — a double whammy. Look at Justin Bieber’s Instagram account (the reigning king of Instagram?), and you will find mostly selfies. Look at other accounts with millions of followers — like that of Taylor Swift or Ashley Benson (of the TV show “Pretty Little Liars”) — and you’ll find backstage selfies, selfies with friends, selfies with pets.

名人自拍照不仅是明星的私人照片，而且通常是由明星本人拍摄的，因此具有双重吸引力。看看贾斯汀·比伯(Justin Bieber)的Instagram账户（Instagram的在位国王？），你会发现大部分是自拍照。再看看其他那些有成百上千万粉丝的账户，比如在泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)或艾希莉·班森（Ashley Benson，电视剧《美少女的谎言》[Pretty Little Liars]的主演）的账户，你会发现在演出后台的自拍照，以及与朋友、宠物的自拍照。

These stars know the power of their image, and how it is enhanced when garnished with privileged material — anything that says, “Here is a bit of my private life.”

这些明星知道自己肖像的力量，也知道加点私密元素（任何能透露“这是我私生活的一小部分”的东西）能提升这种力量。

I’ve found that Instagram works much like the movie business: You’re safe if you trade “one for them” with “one for yourself,” meaning for every photo of a book, painting or poem, I try to post a selfie with a puppy, a topless selfie or a selfie with Seth Rogen, because these are all things that are generally liked.

我发现Instagram和电影业的运作规律很像：如果你以各取所需为原则作交换，就一定行得通，我的意思是每发一张关于书、绘画或诗歌的照片，我都尽量配上一张自己和小狗的自拍照，或者裸露上身的自拍照，或者和塞斯·罗根(Seth Rogen)的自拍合影，因为这些都是观众普遍喜欢的。

Now, while the celebrity selfie is most powerful as a pseudo-personal moment, the noncelebrity selfie is a chance for subjects to glam it up, to show off a special side of themselves — dressing up for a special occasion, or not dressing, which is a kind of preening that says, “There is something important about me that clothes hide, and I don’t want to hide.”

如今，作为伪私密时刻，名人自拍是最有力量的，但是非名人自拍对照片的主人来说也是一个展示自我魅力、炫耀自我特殊一面的机会，比如那些为特殊场合盛装打扮的照片，或者不穿衣服的照片。后者也是一种自我炫耀，像是在说，“衣服掩盖了我身上的某种重要的东西，我不想再掩盖了。”

Of course, the self-portrait is an easy target for charges of self-involvement, but, in a visual culture, the selfie quickly and easily shows, not tells, how you’re feeling, where you are, what you’re doing.

当然，自拍很容易被指责为自恋，但是在视觉文化里，自拍能很快、很容易地展示出，而不是说出：你的感受，你在哪里，你在做什么。

And, as our social lives become more electronic, we become more adept at interpreting social media. A texting conversation might fall short of communicating how you are feeling, but a selfie might make everything clear in an instant. Selfies are tools of communication more than marks of vanity (but yes, they can be a little vain).

社交生活越来越电子化，所以我们变得更加善于使用社交媒体。文字对话可能不足以传达你的感受，而自拍能在瞬间将一切展露无遗。自拍是交流的工具，不是虚荣的标记（但我也得承认它多少还是有点虚荣的）。

We all have different reasons for posting them, but, in the end, selfies are avatars: Mini-Me’s that we send out to give others a sense of who we are.

我们发自拍的原因各不相同，但说到底，自拍是我们的化身：我们通过发布这些“迷你自我”让别人多了解我们一点。

I am actually turned off when I look at an account and don’t see any selfies, because I want to know whom I’m dealing with. In our age of social networking, the selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, “Hello, this is me.”

浏览一个账户的时候，我要是没看到一张自拍，就会觉得很扫兴，因为我想知道我在和谁交流。在如今这个社交网络时代，自拍就像是看着对方的眼睛说“你好，这就是我”。