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 so you have a fairly interesting double standard based upon who’s taking the self-portrait,” said Rutledge, in Boston.

In selfies, we can be famous and in control of our own images and storylines. As for the young, the more authority figures — parents, teachers — dislike them and “declare them a sign of a self-obsessed, narcissistic generation, the more desirable they become”, she said.

The word selfie in itself carries multiple connotations, Rutledge observes. “The ‘ie’ at the end makes selfie a diminutive, implying some affection and familiarity.” From a semantic’s perspective, the selfie is a “little self” — a small, friendly bit of the self, she said.

There’s a sense of immediacy and temporariness. “Gr