Female Selfies On Facebook: A Study of Viewers' Opinion and Comments On Selfies

Female Selfies and Viewers’ Comments
Female Selfies on Facebook

A Study of Viewers’ Opinion and Comments on Selfies
Research Advisor Researcher

Ms. Werdah Munib Abdus Samad Khan
(2012 – 2016)
School of Media and Mass Communication
Beaconhouse National University
Declaration
I declare that this research report, titled “Female Selfies on Facebook: A Study
of Viewers’ Opinion and Comments on Selfies” has been carried out and completed
by me, and is an original piece of work. This report has been carried out under the
supervision of my thesis advisor Ms. Werdah Munib.
Abdus Samad Khan
Roll # F2012458
(Researcher)
Certificate
It is certified that Mr. Abdus Samad Khan of the Eight Semester (2012-2016) of School
of Mass Communication initiated a research entitled “Female Selfies on Facebook: A
Study of Viewers’ Opinion and Comments on Selfies” under my supervision. It is to
assure that this work is original and has not been published anywhere yet.
Signature: Date:
Advisor’s Name: Werdah Munib

Acknowledgments
Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms. Werdah Munib, research
advisor and lecturer of media communications at Beaconhouse National University, for
her help and inspiring suggestions through the tedious process.
I’m also indebted to Dr. Taimur-ul-Hassan, the Dean of School of Mass Media and
Communication for his feedback on the theoretical framework and who has been a
constant source of encouragement and help.
I’d also like to acknowledge my gratitude towards Musa Hayat Bandey for the beautiful
and helpful chats I have had with him about my field of research, Hayaa Khurshid for the
development of the research and inspiring me to do better, Shanzay Salman without
whom the interpretation of the results would not have been possible, Zara Iqbal and
Laraib Khakwani for believing in me and supporting me throughout the process, Mubeen
Ashfaq for his unflagging love and countless hours of support, my fellow classmates for
making the brain look pretty and my family, obviously.

Abstract
Selfies (self-portraits often taken with a cellular phone camera) are popularly used for
self-portrayal on social media websites like Facebook. The potential of these user-
generated self-portraits draws comments of the viewers who associate different
stereotypes or themes to the individuals in the selfie.
To investigate the degree of gender stereotyping and theme association, a systematic
random sampling of the selfies was applied on a page that was selected by purposive
sampling for a netnographic study. Their comments sample drawn through random
sampling and taken into focus for qualitative content analysis.
The extent of the gender stereotyping in the selfies was measured through Laura
Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory (1975). Additionally, the gender stereotyping in the
selfie was found to be directly correlational to the male gaze as proposed in Mulvey’s
theory. Results revealed that even if the gender stereotypes were not present in the
selfie, the individual in the selfie would still be assigned some stereotypes to make
sense of the picture because of subconscious ideological and socio-cultural concepts
of the society.
Keywords: Selfies on Facebook, Stereotypes in Viewers Comments, Social Media
Networking, User-Generated Content

Acronyms
3G Third Generation
4G Fourth Generation
Aol American Global Mass Media Company
BBS Bulletin Board System
IBM International Business Machines Corp.
CFU Common Facebook User
RFU Renowned Facebook User
SNS Social Networking Site
UGC User Generated Content
Table of Contents
Declaration
Certificate
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Abbreviations
Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Background of the Study…………..…………………………………………...….2

1.3 Rationale ................................................................................................................ 12
1.4 Importance of Study............................................................................................... 13
1.5 Purpose of the Study..……………...……………………………………………………………….13
1.6 Literature Review................................................................................................... 14
1.7 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 22
1.7.1 Male Gaze Theory (1975) ................................................................................... 22
1.8 Variables ................................................................................................................ 26
1.9 Conceptualization of the Terms ............................................................................. 26
Chapter 2 Research Methodology ............................................................................ 29
2.0.1 Research Design.................................................................................................. 29

2.1.1 A Qualitative Research Approach ...................................................................... 29
2.1.2 Netnography........................................................................................................ 29
2.1 Research Questions ................................................................................................ 30
2.2 Hypothesis.............................................................................................................. 31
2.3 Universe ................................................................................................................. 31
2.4 Sampling ................................................................................................................ 31
2.4.1 Sampling Frame/Size .......................................................................................... 32
2.5 Unit of analysis ...................................................................................................... 33
2.6 Categorization of the Connotations and Attributions ............................................ 34
Chapter 3 Data Interpretation .................................................................................. 35
3.1 Analysis of the Self-Representation of Individuals under Study ........................... 36

3.2 Thematic Analysis and Process ............................................................................. 41

3.3 Inductive Thematic Elements ................................................................................ 42
3.4 Analysis of the Viewers’ Comments ..................................................................... 46
3.5 Application of Theoretical Framework and the Viewers’ Comments ................... 61
Chapter 4 Discussion ................................................................................................. 64
Chapter 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 69
5.1 Limitations and Recommendations........................................................................ 70

5.2 Future Research ..................................................................................................... 73
References ................................................................................................................... 74
Female Selfies and Viewers’ Comments 1
Chapter 1 Introduction
Media today has completely taken over the world, and is considered a necessary
condition for flow of information. In contemporary context globalization is used to
indicate great speed of exchange of information across immeasurable distances
(turning the world into a global village). This influx of information greatly impacts
the intellectual, political, and above all social spheres of a society.
The very ubiquity of radio, television, telephones and the Internet has contributed to
the power of media to influence the consumer in every way possible. Virtually
everyone in the modern world has access to a television and a cellphone with Internet.
Pervasive access to different mediums of media has given rise to 24-hour
programming, which influences the public perception and opinion in a lot of ways.
Mass media today is considered to be the main feature of a modern society, and
individuals who live in a media rich environment are dependent on media for
information, knowledge and entertainment.
Media outlets become successful, if it is authentic and most frequently viewed by the
audience. In terms of such a process, subjects are given mass coverage, to which the
susceptibility of the audience is high. But that is only decided by the long-range
themes and meta-messages, which involves priming of a subject, thereby influencing
the mass opinion.
In cases which the audience do not have direct knowledge or information, they rely on
the media to inform them about it. However this is not to say that media simply
influences the audience to think about certain things- in contrast people do not
consume media messages uncritically (Philo, et al. 2008).
1.2 Background of the Study
Today the media is integrated into our daily lives so deeply that it seems to exist at a
parallel with the tangible world. When we think of it in terms of new media and
globalization alone, the desire to constantly remain plugged in governs of the world
has become vital for an individual to keep up with the informed populace of the
world.
 The Digitalization of the World
In a technological world of today, the smartphones have allowed an individual to
access anything anywhere unrestricted by time constraints and geography. An iPhone
today wasn’t even a smartphone as it is now. The first smartphone in the history of
technology was the IBM Simon. The smartphone was a far cry from what the digital
phones today are and differed in a lot of different ways (Shah, 2013).
The introduction of cellular phones like Nokia, BlackBerry and Motorola, ruled
throughout the extreme 2000’s with the option of touchscreen as well, a stylus
controlled and monochromatic one but still very different from the “retinas” and
“realities” of today. Later in 2007 the plethora of digital feature phones started
coming out like iPhone, followed by Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers
changing the very face of the digital world (Ibid.).
In 2010, the smartphones started coming up with multiple features and applications
along with high-resolution cameras and Internet networks. Moreover, in 2009 Third
Generation (3G) was launched in Japan hinting the beginning of digitalization
towards a new dimension, which involved accessing Internet wirelessly through
smartphones, and computer based devices (UMTS world, 2007).
By 2010, it was evident that the introduction of 3G networks would allow the growth
of bandwidth applications, which would involve streaming media content live and
downloading with a blink of an eye. Consequently, the tech industry started
developing a Fourth Generation (4G) data optimized technologies gave birth to a
completely digitalized and modernized world of technology (Saeed, 2010).
 History of Social Media: How it all Began
The introduction of the Internet in the world of today has changed the way people
interact. At the same time the rise of social networking platforms have had an
increasing influence on people’s lives.
The social networking sites also thrived with the inception and development of
constantly changing smartphone and advancing Internet networks. But what really is a
social networking site? Social Networking Site or more commonly known as Social
Media are web-based communities where ideas, interests, exchange of information
pictures/videos by people in cyber communities and networks. However, there are
four essential points, which are the foundation of a social media:
1. Social Media are Web-Based 2.0 Internet based applications (which means the
traditional social media which was referred to as Web 1.0 where the user could only
view or download the content didn’t have much power over the data of the social
networking site). According to website WhatIs.com (2010) increasingly now a social

media user have more input into the nature and content of a social networking site at
the same time employing real-time control over the virtual space.
2. User-Generated Content also known as (UGC) which happens to be the lifeblood of
a virtual user and main feature which has evolved a social media organism. (User-
Generated content are the pictures, videos, posts, comments, messages, emojis, gif,
and texts by a social networking site user) (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).
3. The option of creating a profile by social networking site user for a specific
purpose, which are maintained by the social networking site organization (Obar &
Wildman, 2015).
4. Social networking site also facilitate the networking and communication between
other users through profiles, groups or communities (Ellison, 2007).
The rapid evolution of different cyber portals and the plethora of digital applications
have given rise to different forms of communication and interaction. The users have
modified and developed their skills of using the online world according to their liking.
Furthermore, they are able to distinguish between good and bad, which raises
question as to how over time the skills have been refined and with what aim (Johnson
& Kaye, 2010).
The rise of social networking sites started with BBS in late 80’s and through early
90’s. BBS is an acronym for Bulletin Board System, and this site enabled users to
communicate via a central system where they could interact and download pirated
files. But downside of the BBS was that it only allowed local circulation of messages.
Another Internet avenue, which gained popularity in the late 80’s, was CompuServe,
which was a business-oriented computer-based communication system. However, the
true precursor of the Internet revolution was AOL (America Online). Under the
umbrella of AOL many social networking sites spawned. By the end of 1990’s
Internet gave birth to a virtual shop called Yahoo, Amazon started by selling books,
and the race in every household to own a PC was on (Digital Trends, 2014).
At the end of 90’s tutoring websites like Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com
completed the fold of a millennium. In the following years Friendster, MySpace and
Facebook came into being which gave the users a network to socialize and interact.
Slowly, Facebook became a multi-billion dollar e-commerce behemoth winning the
race of social media for still being in relevance along with twitter (Ibid.).
Given the immediate rise in the mobile technology and the fourth generation of
network, the mobile-based social networking sites have approached the Internet in a
different fashion as compared to their web-based counterparts. Instead of offering a
complete web-based experience like the now defunct MySpace, social networking
sites like Instagram which enables elf-presentation of oneself through images on their
feed, the 24-hour private documentation of images via Snapchat, amplification of
reality by Foursquare, and location-based dating networks like Tinder and Grindr
(Ibid, p. 2).
Online users participate in the cyber world to validate their gratification and unique
needs which involves convenience, peer-pressure, and interaction, personal and social
cognitive need, expression, and self-documentation, to vent or display anti-media
feeling (Johnson & Kaye, 2010, p. 3).

Social Networking Sites can be defined as an online or a web-based service that
allows an Internet user to build a public or semi-private profile or page within a
particular system of virtual space, construct a list of acquaintances and with people
they want to share a connection with and communicate with the list of their
connections and the ones made by others within that system (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
Facebook as an SNS is known for its unprecedented popularity all over the world. In
2014, Facebook celebrated its 10th anniversary as it came into being in 2004 by
Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg, who happens to be the current owner and
CEO of the company (Kusic, 2010).
 Social Media Networks and the Millennial
Today, an average user from age 16 and above has around 200 friends on their
Facebook connection, which the SNS an essential part of everyday life of a “digital
natives” and articulation of “iGeneration” (Kusic, 2010, p. 105).
The social network site Facebook offers multiple possibilities to its users. The designs
are made to increase interactions and communication dynamics at the same time
keeping users connected at all times, which is the foundation and basic idea of SNSs.
The Internet today has enabled a two-way communication, which has allowed the
users to deliver and post their content, the theory can now also be applied on the
usage of the Internet and how an SNSs user can obtain gratification by creating and
responding to the content uploaded onto the internet.

Various research suggests that the SNSs users gratify their needs of entertainment,
self-presentation, socialization and information, (Gallion, 2010) looking for a
romantic relationship, gossip about friends or acquaintances, voyeurism and
expressing self-representation or self-promotion (Bumgarner, 2007), acquiring
information about social events and happenings, escapism, relaxation, meeting new
people and following new trends (Smock, 2011) academic and institutional activities,
identity sharing and checking other profiles of SNSs users (Joinson, 2008).
 The Gratification of an online user and Social Media
Uses and Gratification theory will be discussed in relevance to the User-Generated
Content (UGC) as to why and how audience use UGC and what gratifications of
needs is being fulfilled.
First of all, the UGC is dealt with in three ways:
 Producing
 Participating
 Consuming
Consuming means that the audience just read, view and watch but never participate.
Participating on the other hand involves user-to-user interaction and user-to-content
interaction (which entails downloading music, socializing on social media, tagging,
sharing, posting comments, etc.). It doesn’t mean constitutes a user’s own production
on the Internet. However, producing involves creating and uploading it onto the
Internet like taking photos, videos, crafting texts, uploading a website, generating
codes etc.(Shao, 2008).

Furthermore, the research by Shao also stress on what drives people into using UGC:
for instance, audiences consume the UGC for information, entertainment or escaping
from reality, participate to communicate with community members for social
development or some give into it because of peer pressure, and people produce their
content for self-expression and self-actualization, this in turn posits the
interdependence of all the three activities.
In order to understand the way an online user uses social networking platforms it is
imperative to note and examine the individual’s online habits thereby linking them
with the results of sociability and interactivity (Papacharrisi, 2011 ).
 Social Media and the Rise of Selfie Culture
The main purpose of the study is to understand the use of social networking sites in
relevance to the online self-portrayal and the reaction of the viewers to it, which can
be outlined through the theory of Erwing Goffman (1959) which assumes that
individuals are constantly shaping their image through their actions and interactive
activity in his book entitled “the Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”.
Self-representation is considered to be a process, which is perceived as an always-
changing cycle. Self-representation involves the identity of an individual which is
presented, associated with certain attributes or ideas, and justified relative to various
realities like cultural, social, and economic as well as political and professional (Ibid.,
p. 304).
Aside from the growing use of the particular social networking site, another focus on
the strong trend of a picture genre, which was introduced through smartphone
photography, is the “selfie”.
In the early 2000’s, before the popularity of Facebook as a social network, self-
photographs were particularly common on now defunct MySpace. As Facebook
started to gain attention, the self-photographs on MySpace commonly known as
“MySpace pic” (often taken in front of bathroom mirror with a flash) were considered
amateurish and depicted bad taste for the newer users of the social networking site
like Facebook. Moreover, with the improvements in the feature design and resolution
of the camera, the new iPhone 4, and mobile photo applications like Instagram and
Snapchat led to the digital rebirth of selfies in the early 2010’s (Losse, 2013).
The culture of “selfies” became popular when Ellen DeGeneres a famous American
talk show host wanted to pay homage to Meryl Streep on her 18th Oscar nomination
by which set a record and invited other renowned celebrities to take a “selfie” with
other at the 86th Academy Awards. The photo, which was posted onto social media,
broke the previous records and was re-tweeted in the first hour for over 1.8 million
times (BBC, 2014).
When it comes to a social networking platform like Facebook people tend to use their
real names because of it online offline integration. The profile with pictures and the
comments by friends or followers serves as an online portrayal of the individual.

A profile there is not an inactive thing on the Internet, but works as an ever evolving
and changing of social interaction and self-presentation, which mirrors the person’s
communication and digital reputation (Tufekci, 2008).
Social networking platforms have validated the idea of self-construction on various
online spaces which transfers a portion of culture to shape familiarity and help to
build associations with users online.
 The Digital World of the Internet, Facebook and the Selfie
The Facebook posts nowadays could very well be termed as mass-personal
communications. These mass personal communication raise questions, such as public
intrusion on a common Facebook users public photo which could possibly affect an
individual’s reputation or what conscious or unconscious influence an online lurker
might have on the virtual identity of a social media user. At the same being vulnerable
to the threat of public self-promotion on Facebook.
Even though the introduction of Facebook is very common among people, but the
indication of how the people use Internet to construct digital reputation has not been
much debated upon. Similarly, the field of social networking platforms may not be a
new field of research but the portrayal or presentation of one’s self is new and young
in the world of Internet (Mehdizada, 2012).
Previous studies have focused more on personal website and MySpace pages which
were designed according to the users’ liking. The self-presentation was displayed as
the layout of the profile with multiple “selfies” serving as the background of a
MySpace profile, which provided somewhat different setting than Facebook (Shau,
2003 , pp. 385-404).
Scholars have always questioned what kind of user appears on the social networking
platforms like Facebook, latter of which deals with what they do with the media
(Papacharrisi, 2011).
Prior research has always concentrated on the communication and effect of social
media on an online user and not focusing more on the digital reputation of an online
user.
The following research will focus on the popular social networking site, which
happens to be Facebook. TechCrunch reported the extensive use of Facebook and its
huge popularity all over the world (Constine, 2015).
The research will further explain the significance and the reaction towards visual
communication, through sharing and posting of images on Facebook pages. The
image conventions will also be taken into account and the gender attribute and
dominant themes particular to a gender bias will be explained through the research. At
the same time one of the focus will be on “selfie” as a particular from of digital
reputation or portrayal of an individual online.
The study delves deeper into an online user’s existence on the Internet and examines
the behavior of both the variables interactions. The sensitized study will be centered
upon how the independent variable is perceived by the dependent variable in this case
which happens to be the studied female self-portraits and how an online user
perceives them.
1.2 Problem Statement: In the growing age of technology people have developed
and enhanced their ideas about Facebook and other social networking websites
(Aerni, 2014 ). Similarly, the usage of social networking platforms like Facebook has
given rise to exaggerated sharing and posting of self-portraitures also known as
“selfies” and videos in the digital world. Essentially the female visual based
communication is attributed with certain gender stereotypes, which is reciprocated
through comments, displaying the opinion and the engagement of the followers.
1.3 Rationale
The study will focus on the pages of Facebook which is the most popular social
networking website on the Internet and all over the world. Facebook is chosen for the
research because of its easy usage and accessibility to everyone across the globe.
Facebook as social media platform caters to all the population of the world and is a
marketplace for consumers and entrepreneurs.
Similarly report suggests that at the end of the year 2015 Pakistan has achieved a
milestone of reaching a landmark of 20 million users on the social networking site
Facebook (Qureshi, 2015).
The choice of the Individuals under study was motivated for various reasons. The first
being the amount of reaction towards a female’s reputation online and the second
being the themes associated with women. Women tend to construct a more networked
sense of self if not otherwise that’s what the researcher tends to find through the
comments of their followers or friends.

This research has considered the above-mentioned points to choose Facebook for the
analysis of the self-portrait of women and the visual reactions generated by those
photos.
1.4 Importance of Study
The Facebook anew is a vast world on its own in the virtual world of the Internet.
Normally the particular social networking site is used for communicational and
interactive purposes.
The particular media has never been analyzed on social and psychological level. This
research however is distinctive and examines the opinion and the formation of the
opinion of an online user towards the self-portraiture of women under study.
This research will not only look into the opinion and comments of an online user on
the photos of a Facebook user at the same time highlighting the importance of a mere
comment.
This study will also help scholars and researchers to understand the user-generated
content on Facebook and the reaction it evokes from a Facebook user. Therefore, the
research will also serve as a reference for the researchers who wish to examine the
gender stereotypes and the dominant themes associated with a self-portraiture of
women on the Internet.
1.5 Purpose of the Study: The study aims to develop the understanding of visual
opinion of an online user focusing particularly on renowned and obscure female
users’ self-portrayal on Facebook pages.

1.6 Literature Review
A literature review is an assessment of the literary work to the selected field of
research. The review of the literature, describes, summarizes and clarifies the
literature. It gives a researcher a base for their research and helps to focus on a
particular direction (CQ University Incorporated).
The dynamic development of the Internet and the everyday varying trends in the social
media portals is allowing the users of the new media to use it in multiple ways. The
contemporary research on the Internet and its usage has taken many different faces; it
has shifted from its typical focus, which constituted of the amount of use to measuring
the kind of usage.
It is now concentrating on the extent of the kind of media users and their usage, the
motivation, reasons and their behavior when it comes to using popular social media
platforms like Facebook.
The millennial generation has taken to social media in several forms of which involves
the “Selfie” culture, which is self-portraiture of yourself or someone. The demographic
taken in specific interest are young women in their teens and women keeping in mind
their self-representation through the “selfie” phenomenon and the cultural fascination
with user-generated content which involve the engagement of an online follower or
friend.
Social media is known to have been playing an important role in building the identity
and associating typical stereotypes or attributes with a particular female user of
Facebook. This even hints at the very visual culture and as to why it’s becoming so
powerful in constructing the digital reputation of a person on social networking sites
like Facebook. The user-oriented approach also leads to exploring the study with the
uses and gratification concept and investigate the gratification of their needs thereat.
To give the research a verified structure and authenticity, work relative to the study
have been taken into consideration. For which eight research articles and one report
has been chosen to provide a summary relevant to the field of research.
Social Media Usage: Status Symbol Among Teens and Young Adults
According to Pew Research Center, which suggests in their 2012 survey that about
95% of the teens from age 12 to 17, are now online with a 76% of young adults with
an age range of 18-25 active on Social Networking Sites (SNSs).
The paper examines the overwhelming number of teens and young adults on platforms
lnstagram a photo-sharing app, which allows a user to post user-generated content. It
is social network where pictures serve as a catalyst for conversations, generate
followers and “Likes”, the higher the number of these aforementioned things the
greater it serves the shallow capitalism. The user generating platform Instagram is
catering curious behavior where young adults strive for the number, regardless of the
kind of content they post.
The researcher Manikandan (2013) observes the usage of having existence on the
social media as a status symbol. The objectives of the paper are the amount of usage
by teens and young adults, the importance of social networking sites and risk of being
on these social networks.

A quantitative methodology is used in which a survey is conducted to find out about
the number of hours spent on the Internet and different social media platforms. The
researcher has also taken the content of Instagram into account and carried out a
content analysis of the social network as well. The result finding of the survey
suggests that teen girls are the ones to use these platforms the most with a percentage
of 34% girls compared with 24% of which are boys (Ibid.).
The Accidental Narcissism and the Social Media Websites
The study conducted by Wickel (2015) in his research paper aims to figure out why
posting of “selfies” on social networking sites is the main contributing factor towards
increasing narcissus and self-centred behaviour among people. The demographic taken
into consideration are young female college students from age 18 to 33.
An additional investigation involves the study between independent variable, which is
the social networking websites in relation to the dependent variable, which are both
males and females. The approach of mixed method is applied in a survey of interval
scale and focus group which catered to nine sororities of the Elon University to find
out the potential narcissism and their experience with people of their generation who
they spend less than average time with to know about their social media network
habits. In a way, the study reveals the 55% of the survey participants agree that
“selfies” do promote narcissism and selfish behaviour among the users of the social
networking websites. The collective finding stated at the end says that the participants
believe that the “selfies” they post online are beneficial for them and they do it in
order to attain gratification from the audience of the particular content they have
posted (Ibid.).
Female Virtual Identities as Portrayed on Instagram
The authors Hedberg and Martensson (2015) in their elaborate study of the female
identities explore how people perceive the identities of these females on social media
portals like Instagram and channel their consumption of retail.
In order to understand the brand consumption of brands by young women who use it
as personal statement to define themselves on the social media network, the researcher
suggests a three-part model in the paper. Three parts of which involve the objects of
consumption, people who are the audience and the person generating the content.
A qualitative method is applied by concentrating on focus group discussion to find out
the results of the study. Findings of the study indicates the impression the female users
are trying to propagate, the idea of owning luxury, publicizing stereotypical notions
like flaunting of expensive items and class personality (Ibid.).
A Tool for Gratifiying Youth’s Needs
Tanta, Mihovilović and Sablić (2014) in their paper observes the growing use of
popular social media websites among teens and young adults to figure out what
motivates them to use online networks and their behavioral status online.
A theoretical framework of the uses and gratification model is used to decipher the
relationship between the dependent (youth) and independent (social media) variables.
An analysis of the media theory’s relevance is also conducted through the paper to
find out coherence of the theory in accordance with the study. The researcher has
gathered preliminary information and conducted a mixed methodology research. In

particular amount of time a number of school students were asked to fill out a survey.
The students ranged from elementary school to secondary level of school.
The findings of the paper revealed that the youth mainly uses these social networking
websites to keep up with their friends, communicate and organize their meetings. The
social media platforms only gratifies the needs of the adolescents in their
understanding of their social environment, communication with their peers and
gathering social information. Hence, proving the model of uses and gratification
applicable to the study (Ibid.).
The Correlation between Selfie, “Likes” and Self-Esteem
According to researcher Poe (2015), there is a direct correlation between the amounts
of likes that are on a “selfie” with the self-esteem of the female uploader. She claims
that women are more likely to upload pictures when their self-esteem is high. She
references Goffman’s theory of self-presentation, which gives insight into how to
predict social media behaviors and validates the different realms of social media
research.
Numerous studies have shown that social media use and picture uploading in general
decreases depression and enhances self-esteem. These might seem positive on the
surface but these behaviors if reinforced can lead to inherent narcissism, egotism and
implications like social comparison like peer envy.
The research conducted is a survey and focus group discussion, which amounts to a
mixed methodology of research. The participants of which are the college students
who are analyzed on scenarios, which are likely to decide the self-esteem. The
findings of the research advocates that dependent variables (women) are more likely to
post their “selfies” on social networks (independent variable) when their self-esteem is
high at the same time promoting a self-behavior promotion on the cyber portals. The
link of likes one receives on Instagram and the self –esteem of the subject is implied to
have a slight relationship (Ibid.).
“Selfies” and the Presentation of Oneself
“Selfies” has become an important culture on the Internet if one doesn’t produce
“selfies” they cannot even stop themselves from consuming them. With the emergence
of a new phenomenon on the social media it could possibly change the whole Internet
culture and provide a shift in the context and messages.
The researcher Williams and Marquez (2015) in their article highlights the study of a
sociological analysis of “selfies”, and their ‘prosumption’- a term coined by the
researcher for a collaboration of production and consumption. It reflects different
sociological insight of our personal experiences while taking “selfies” with references
to our racial and gender identities.
The researcher has applied the qualitative method in which a focus group is conducted
of 40 participants. The results finding uncovered that white people are more likely to
have an aversion to “selfies”, both men and women, while black and Hispanic people
generally approved of “selfies”. The researcher’s first instinct was to conclude that this
particular preference for “selfies” by people of color is born out of self-defense and
racial promotion but delving deeper, the researcher discovered that this was not a clear
enough hypothesis and that they could not be sure if the “selfies” preferred by people
of color were of people of color alone and not white people (Ibid.).
Expressing Oneself through “Selfies” on a Virtual Landscape
Manderstedt and Palo (2009) speculate in their reearch how selfies define you as a
person on the virtual spaces of the Internet. It further suggests how young adults of
the 21st century utilize different virtual locations for self-expression.
However, the interesting aspect of the research is the trancription of “selfies” in the
form and construction of texts. By that the researcher emphasises on the comments
that elborate on the texts which the “selfies” garner. For this purpose the researcher
applied a mixed method which involved a netnography study of “selfies” by
collecting data (“selfies” of female, male, a particular lifestyle and “selfies” of men
showing off their body after weight loss or just showing their athletic body)(Ibid.).
The “Selfie” in the Millennial Age: From “Virtual Spaces” to Sexting
The “selfies” phenomenon has become a pervasive part of our digital culture. The
“selfie” culture has managed to become very popular among the millennial
generations, which happens to be the teens and young adults. However, it is important
to note that everything has it affect and so does the “selfie” culture on their users. In
this research by Peek (2014) posits correlation of “selfie” bheaviour, mental health
and the aggressive clicking of self pictures. The researcher at the same time has linked
the behaviour with social depedence, low-self esteem and attention seeking.
As a way to connect “selfies” are normally used to share a paritcular moment or
experience. It is not really hwoever a new phenomen for people to self-document
themsevles. But with smartphone digitlization and capiltilies, it has allowed the
mellnials to expres their moods without having someone to take their pictures. The
image can be expressive and these photos which are not staged can easily circulated
via social media. The researcher in their article have alos stressed on “sexting” and
“nudes” which are semi-naked or compeltely naked pictures of an individual sent to
another user and the private texts are responses to the suggestive photos which are a
bit explicit in their nature. In this research the researcher has used mixed method to
explore as to what extent the “selfies” can affect an individual and in what ways they
can dealt with if it somehow goes public (Ibid.).
The Appeal of User-Generated Media (UGM) : Facebook and the Gratification
of a Users
User-Generated media like Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia have become
extremly popular among the masses recently. The researcher Shao (2008) in his paper
has proposed as to why social media appeal to the people.
The paper is mainly theoretical with no specific methodology used because
theresearcher himself has proposed a model of framework explaining the appeal of
UGM. It explains the three different ways a user take to these websites. The first step
is the consumption of the media for entertainment and information, the second is
particpating through interaction and the production of content for self-expression.
Moreover, it also stresses upon the two approaches the researcher has suggested
which deals with the usability aspect of the UGM which is “easy to use” and “let’s the
user of social media control” for achieving gratification from the UGM (Ibid.).
As the literature suggests social media is used for mutiple purposes. The Internet has
introduced a plethora of cyber culture among its users. The impactful study of self-
representation of Papacharissi and Goffman serve as the main foundation for the
research, which has allowed the researcher to deduce the results of the study.
1.7 Theoretical Framework
An understanding of the theory of representation and the perception is important
when it comes understanding opinion of a viewer as meaning-maker. Representation
has always been an important field for conservative and modern feminism. In order to
provide a theoretical framework to the research the Male Gaze Theory by Laura
Mulvey (1975) and the Tessa Perkins’s Stereotype Theory (1972) are taken in
consideration to draw up a conception of self and explicitly gendered discursive
framework.
1.7.1 Male Gaze Theory (1975)
A scholar and filmmaker Laura Mulvey introduced the concept of the male gaze in
her famous essay entitled “Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema”. The gaze occurs
when a viewer is engaged with the visual media through the perspective of a
heterosexual man, which includes adverts, cinema, television programs and self-
documentation on social media (Mulvey, 1975).
The male gaze refers to the sexual politics of the gaze, which suggests looking in a
sexualized manner, which empowers men, and disempowers women (objectifies
them). The theory proposes the visual positioning of women as an “object” of desire
in relation to the male gaze. The women’s feelings, thoughts and desires are of less
significance because she’s “framed” by male desires denying the identity of a female
human identity.
Laura Mulvey's theory is a sub-division to feminist media theory, which deals
specifically with the male gaze. But is there any focus on the female gaze? There is no
direct equivalent of the female gaze. The male gaze creates a power imbalance
perpetuating the typical societal norm of a patriarchal status quo. For this reason, the
female gaze cannot be the same as the male gaze. However, as hypothesized by the
researcher the gaze evokes the cliché that female’s desire is “sensory” whereas males’
are “visual”. The male gaze focuses on the following points:
 Emphasis on the curves of the female body.
 Portrayal and referring to women as objects.
 Exhibition of women through the perception of men or how they think women
should be perceived.
 Female viewers view the content through the eyes of a man.
In nutshell, the theory suggests that women are viewed from a heterosexual male’s
point of view and these women in the visual media represented as passive objects of a
man’s desire. Audience is forced to view the women from the perspective of a man,
even if they are heterosexual male or heterosexual female (Sampson, 2015).
From the feminist perspective, the theory is thought of in three ways:
 how men look at women
 how women look at themselves
 how women look at other women (Jackson, 2013)
Mulvey’s essay lays down three postulates, which serves as the basis of the male gaze
theory.
1. Introduction
 A political use of psychoanalysis
 Destruction of pleasure as a radical weapon

2. Pleasure in looking/Fascination with the human form
3. Women as image, men as bearer of the look
Introduction
The part of the theory deals with two division, which is the political use of
psychoanalysis and destruction of pleasure as a radical weapon.
 A Political Use of Psychoanalysis
The essay of Mulvey intends to utilize the psychoanalysis theory of Sigmund Freud as
a political weapon to show the subconscious of the patriarchal society, which shapes
our ideas, beliefs and experiences. Psychoanalytic theory deals with the idea that
things that happen to people all through their life can contribute to the way they
function as adults. Freud proposed that the human mind is made of two parts - the
conscious mind and the unconscious. The unconscious sometimes prompts an
individual to make certain decisions, which they don’t realize on a conscious level
(Lauretis, 2008).
Hegemonic ideologies are reinforced by the male gaze which means that a ruling or
dominant idea is propagated in the political and social context. Mulvey argues that
women often look at the women from the perspective of men and find themselves,
often, taking of the male gaze. This in turn leads the women to gaze at the women the
same way as men and end up objectifying other women (Mulvey, 1975).
This leads to further sub-branding of the division into two categories, which are
 Phallocentrism- a world view which sees the phallus as dominant in defining the
gendered imbalance.
 Symbolic order- the language of unconscious patriarchal structure, which is the
meaning, controlled by the law of nature.
Destruction of Pleasure as a Radical Weapon
A developing element of cinema displays dominant ideological concepts, which
reflects the physical obsessions of the society. Mulvey states that if the cinema does
not have the elements of eroticism, the audience will lose interest and pleasure in
looking at films.
2. Pleasure in looking/Fascination with the human form
Mulvey speaks about how media allows viewers to gratify a number of unconscious
Scopophilia.
 Scopophilias an expression of sexuality refers to the pleasure one gets from
looking at something, generally which arouses an erotic or sexual feeling.
 Voyeuristic Scopophilia: Fulfilling sexual gratification from observing others in
secret.
 Narcissistic Scopophilia: Scopophilia in its narcissistic form means when viewers
are viewing a person in the media and imagine them as surrogates for themselves.
3. Women as image, men as bearer of the look
The theory further states the position of women in the media as an object but not as a
subject. She is shown to be representing the patriarchal culture as a signifier for the
male other in which the woman is the “bearer”, “not maker” of the meaning.
1.8 Variables
A variable is a force that causes a change in another variable or vice versa defining
their causal relationship simultaneously. In the research paper, the independent
variables are essentially the photos generated by studied individuals whereas the
online users who view those particular photos are dependent on them and express
their opinion or comment in the comment section of the user-generated content.
Independent Variable: Selfies of women on Facebook
Dependent Variable: Comments/Opinions of the friends and the followers
1.9 Conceptualization of the Terms
Positive: According to the dictionary of Merriam Webster it defines the word positive
as (of a person, situation or attitude) “good, optimistic, favorable, encouraging,
confident, cheerful”.
Negative: The dictionary of Merriam Webster defines negative as (of a person,
situation or attitude) “refusing, rejecting, unfavorable, gloomy, harmful, and
pessimistic”.
Neutral: The Merriam Webster dictionary defines neutral as “impartial, unbiased,
inoffensive, and harmless”.
1.9.1 Operationalization of the Terms
To understand the study in a more precise manner, it is essential to have a clear grasp
of the terms applied in the paper.

The terminologies, which are operational in the research paper, are specified in order
to emphasize on how the researcher has conducted the research. The terms are as
follow:
Selfies: A self-representation or self-portrait is a photograph captured by a mobile
camera with an arm’s length or in front of a mirror, which is uploaded on social media
websites. The selfie in this case are the pictures, which involve the studied
individual’s self-portrayal.(Oxford Dictionaries, 2013)
Facebook Pages: The web pages of the Facebook website are those pages where
people join the particular page by “Liking” or being in the obscure users’ friends list.
In this research Facebook Pages are those pages, which are specific as mentioned
above.
Renowned Female Users (RFU): In this research, the studied individuals who are
famous for a particular thing or known in specific field are the renowned female
Facebook users.
Common Female User (CFU): These individuals are common users of Facebook
and not known to the general online users of Facebook.
Comment Feed: Comment feed is the section or the portion which under a photo,
video or a post. The comment feed allows users to express their opinion and feelings
through comments in the comment feed.

Likes: “Like” is an option on Facebook, by clicking the “Like” button below a post is
an easy way to let people know that the user enjoys the content, without having to
leave a comment under the post. (Facebook Incorporated)
Facebook Reaction: Facebook recently redesigned their “Like” button adding 5 new
emotions, which allows a Facebook user to react to a content (video, pictures or a
posted on Facebook) the way they are feeling.
The options involve emotions like haha, love, wow, sad and angry.
Love: option that suggests love or romance.
Haha: exclamation used to represent something funny or laughter.
Wow: interjection, which suggests surprise.
Sad: reaction, which emotes a smiley with a sad face.
Anger: option, which displays annoyance or displeasure (Mohr, 2016).
Tagging: Tagging involves when a Facebook user tags another profile which creates
a link to a particular post notifying the other user to view it and is added onto the
person’s Timeline.
Emojis: Emojis are representation in the form of an image or an icon, which conveys
an emotion or a gesture.
NSFW: (Acronym for Not Suitable/Not Safe for work) Typically it is used as sign in
e-mails, videos, photos and discussion forums where the sign appears to warn the user
that the content they are accessing have pornography, nudity or profanity and should
open it at their own risk in public or a formal setup like a workplace.

Chapter 2 Research Methodology
This chapter will define the methodology, which will allow the researcher to come to
a conclusive analysis through the research questions and also specify operational
definitions, which will be used through the entire research paper.
2.0.1 Research Design
The methodological framework of the study is based on a content analysis of a
qualitative method. The materials started out qualitative in which pictures, photo
captions and comments of the followers or friends were taken into account for the
study.
2.1.1 A Qualitative Research Approach
A combination of qualitative analytical method is applied to the study: in which
netnography and a qualitative content analysis is used when making sense of the
users’ comments on the “selfies”. Furthermore, the choice of method is solely based
on the insight of the researcher hence the approach towards a qualitative method.
2.1.2 Netnography
Netnography is an approach, which provides the researcher with an insight, which
allows the researcher to analyze online communication and behavior of individuals,
giving a window into an online user’s normal behavior. In a netnographic approach, a
researcher analyzes the field and constructs an image out the observation (Kozinets,
2010).
In this method, the researcher has to consciously strike balance between reflexive and
even subjective when it comes to taking observation from the field. At the same time
the computer and the Internet play a major role in the observation where date is
effortlessly acquired and easily recorded.
Flick (2009) underlines that the researcher himself, his partiality as well as his
interaction with the field outlines a major part of the qualitative research. Moreover,
Kozinets (2010) stresses that a netnogrpahic study are purely observational: which is
what the research is limited to, observing the users online without getting involved or
participating in the field.
The compositional interpretation of the pictures was specified for the content analysis
in which words, sentences, indistinguishable connotations in a photo captions and
comments were discussed along with the “selfies” (relative to particular theme or
events) of the individual under study.
2.1 Research Questions
RQ 1: How are the studied individuals portraying themselves through their selfies on
Facebook?
RQ 2: How do the followers or friends view the studied individuals on Facebook?
RQ 3: What kinds of stereotypes have been associated with the individuals under
study in the comments?
RQ 4: What is the extent of the thematic elements directed towards the studied
individual in the comments?

2.2 Hypothesis
H (1) Female selfies are often commented with negative stereotypes.
H (0) Female selfies are not often commented with negative stereotypes.
H (2) The male gaze focalizes the female subject as an object in the selfies.
H (0) The male gaze does not focalize the female subject as an object in the selfies.
2.3 Universe
Facebook pages relative to renowned and obscure female users were used as the
universe to conduct the study. In which profiles of the studied individuals and
Facebook pages were taken into account where the comment section of the pictures
posted were analyzed for the research.
Time period of 1 month from 1stMarch 2016 till 31stMarch 2016 was considered for
the analysis of the study. The individuals in reality were studied for 3 months.
However, during that particular time period, the activity of the individuals and the
followers and friends was registered to be optimum on Facebook.
2.4 Sampling
Sampling for qualitative analysis usually requires purposely-defined cases, a
collection of pragmatic examples in order to understand and elaborate on the
phenomenon of research or study(Flick, 2009).
Purposive sampling technique was taken into consideration for application on
Facebook. The technique allowed the specific selection of the 10 Facebook pages
relevant to the research, which belonged to renowned and common female Facebook
users.
In terms of limited time and manpower, it was decided from the very beginning to
consider 10 individuals who have been put together meeting the criteria of 1) Being
female, 2) Having achieved fame and attention for posting “selfies” and 3) having
considerable amount of comments for discussion on their “selfies”.
The comments in the comment feed of the photos of Facebook pages were taken into
examination through systematic random sampling where every (n)th integer was
considered for analysis.
Therefore, the formula to pick the comments is the sample size selected (expressed as
“n” in this case) divided by the number of total comments (size = N).
Sampling Fraction= n/N
2.4.1 Sampling Frame/Size
The qualitative content analysis focused on 10 different Facebook pages belonging
solely to female users on Facebook, out of which five were renowned and five were
common users of Facebook.
The criterion followed for the selection of the pages is as follow:
 Pages must be on Facebook.
 Pages must belong to female users of Facebook in Pakistan.

 Pages must have 150 members on the page or “Likes” on the “selfies”.
 Pages must be updated with pictures twice a week.
To fulfill the ethical guidelines, the name of the individuals sampled for the research
was anonymized, neither the selfies nor the names of the individual’s sampled for the
study are revealed and the result are completely anonymous. Their name have been
replaced with the acronyms (which is RFU and CFU) and assigned to observed
individual in the following table below which also mentions their profiles:
Age Acronym Profession/Position
25 RFU 1 Internet Sensation/Model
38 RFU 2 Politician/Social Activist
18 RFU 3 Socialite (Renowned on Social Media)
22 RFU 4 Self-Proclaimed Fashion Designer
21 RFU 5 Student/Model (Internet Sensation)
19 CFU 1 Media Student
24 CFU 2 Magazine Director
27 CFU 3 Creative Style Head (Fashion Magazine)
19 CFU 4 Film Student
22 CFU 5 Fashion Student
2.5 Unit of analysis
The unit of analysis for this research was photo captions related to the photos of the
studied individuals of the sample. Furthermore, the comments of the followers or
friends were also examined on the studied individuals “selfies” on the 10 sampled
pages of Facebook.
2.6 Categorization of the Connotations and Attributions
The categorization of the kind of connotations, and the relative themes used by
Facebook users on the sampled pages are as follow:
Stereotypical Association Non-typical Association
Objectifying the studied individual by Associating atypical attributes with the
gender stereotyping (commenting on the studied individual. (which gender is
feminine touch (if the studied individual dominant in the comment sections)
is touching themselves in the selfies.)
(Emphasis on the gender in the
comment section)
Associating stereotypes with the studied Display an egalitarian opinion through
individual’s physical appearance. comments towards gender role. (if men
(dominant gender in the comment can do it they can too).
section)
Associating positive or negative The follower or friend breaking down an
attributes or stereotypes with the female illusory correlation to gender and typical
by the follower. gender roles.
Commenting on the posture and Non-typical appreciation of the posture
imbalance of the studied individual. imbalance.
(standing, sitting, lying, canting the
head or body, crossing legs)
Followers posting stereotypical opinion Praising the women’s occupation
about the occupation of the studied irrespective of the cultural notion towards
individual under study. it.

Chapter 3 Data Interpretation
Data collection can be time consuming so one has to come up with a convenient way
of colleting and visualizing their data. In a computer-mediated research the data isn’t
only recorded in the form computer readable plain texts but also in the form of
screenshots so one can easily refer back to them(Kozinets, 2010).
However, the study made use of the latter data: like all the observations through
netnography, which were taken pictures of (screenshots), the SNS (which was the
research field site and the pages of Facebook for content analysis) along with the
researcher’s own preferences.
For the research, 10 women were channeled in a separate Facebook feed and followed
in order to not miss their activity on Facebook or content they post on Facebook. The
platform was checked on a regular basis during the period of one month, 3-4 times a
day which was the frequency with which the followed feed of the individuals under
study were being checked.
Moreover, the time period was of one month in which the activity of the followers
and friends on the studied individuals was closely examined. Although, the
observation of the pages of the 10 studied individuals was able to generate
considerable amount of data, in order to not lose closeness to the relevant data, it had
been decided to concentrate on the categorization and the interpretative analysis that
was mentioned in sub-section 2.5 of Chapter 2.
The comments or hashtags were taken into consideration, which specified the
meaning of the “selfie”. However, the comments that were chosen through systematic
random sampling usually had a tag by another user, so the comment’s “replies” were
followed and the provided information allowed the researcher to make sense of the
meaning of the comment.
The profiles of the studied individuals were examined and detailed separately. Along
with the collections of screenshots, the profile and the comments became the body of
research. The whole body of data was organized, based on the type of “selfie” and
whom it belonged to, which was then transformed into words by defining and
detailing the observations.
3.1 Analysis of the Self-Representation of Individuals under Study
Self-portrayal seemed to have a higher meaning on SNSs, especially on Facebook
where “selfies” define one’s digital reputation.
To summarize on the online self-portrayal of the individuals under study and to posit
a discussion basis, the women under observation were summarized by their overall
impression of their portrayal and mirrored with their use of the social media, which
lead to a short descriptive analysis of their self-representation during the netnographic
study.
RFU1- A Provocative Cool Girl
Descriptive Reflexive
Very active on Facebook. There are The individual under study wanted to
mostly “selfies” and videos of her being appear bold and playful so that she could
playful. A lot of pictures involve get attention from a mass audience.
wearing risqué clothing. The features of Provocative behavior exhibited by the

the “selfies” were not safe for work individual to self-promote herself
(NSFW) as mentioned by many especially catering to the male gaze.
comments in the comments section of
the “selfies”.
RFU2- Family, Friends and Work
Activity involves posting pictures twice The individual has built a very domestic,
or thrice a week. Pictures are mostly of family oriented and work driven online
her wedding, “selfies” with friends, representation of herself.
family, at work or events. The
characteristics of some of the picture are
rather dim but give of a cozy feel to the
viewer.
RFU3- Busy Girl Next Door
There are upload of “selfies” on the She appeared as a social person who
page everyday of the week. There are a appeared at different events with different
lot of propositioned photos with good people. Moreover, the individual seemed
lighting specifically at events, launches, conscious as the pictures were very less
weddings and inaugurations. The attire in number but made the studied
of the socialite was perfect and the individual stand out amongst the people
“selfies” supposedly look like they have she’d taken pictures with.
been spent a lot of time on while taking.

RFU4- Self-Proclaimed Fashion Designer
Semi-Active on Facebook. Her Conclusion drawn from her online
Facebook feed looked somewhat representation shows that the individual
fashionable with exhibition of new loves fashion but is only following online
Internet fashion trends. All pictures of trends, which doesn’t really showcase her
her showed clothes, which were to creativity.
showcase her designs as her captions
suggested. Tonalities of the pictures
were filtered with pale filters and were a
bit melancholic.
RFU5- Thoughtful Fashion Model
Extremely active on Facebook. The An idea of thoughtfulness can be derived
individual under study posted pictures from her online self-representation. The
of issues of the world with her “selfies” individual appreciates the work of her
filtered with the tricolors of the French co-workers by posting pictures with
flag (to honor Paris victims of the them.
terrorist attack), superimposition of the
rainbow colored pride flag on her
“selfie” (posits that she’s in favor of
gay rights) and pictures with her
stylists, designer and director of
photography.
CFU1- A Happy Social Person
Very Active on Facebook. There are at The pictures detail her everyday life,
least 3-4 “selfies” posted on a daily which involves constant documentation
basis, praising her eyes and hair. A lot of with an expansive smile at different
pictures are taken outdoors at local places. The individual represents a
cafes, restaurants and clothing stores. stereotypical image of a girl next door.
While other “selfies” were with friends,
her significant other and her pet cat.
CFU2- Busy and Cool “Lahori”
Pictures involve “selfies” at events, a lot The individual under study is a top-notch
of pictures of herself (always dressed up local socialite who is pretentious and
in the latest a la mode, sporting lipstick wears high-end clothing to show of her
and often sunglasses). Some pictures are wealth.
with local celebrities, group of people
who are well-dressed (what one might
call) fashionable, some cats, expensive
gifts from people, and some “selfies” at
trips or vacation. The Facebook feed
provides a window into the everyday life
of the individual under study who
appeared to be well connected and an
exciting person.
CFU3- The Creative Girl
Very Engaged on Facebook. “Selfies” The individual under study seemed to be
were taken in beautiful and arty angles, imaginative with her fashion and work.
which displayed her over the top yet The selfies seemed like they were worked
creative fashion. Other pictures of her on too much in order to show off the
suggested were taken with beautiful creativity of the individual under study.
backgrounds, picture are mostly fun
although never ridiculous. Moreover, the
“selfies” portrayed themes like holiday,
lifestyle, beauty products, arts and
designs of house and clothes.
CFU4- The Sporty Cool
Posted very less than most of the The online representation of the girl
individuals under study. The “selfies” seemed to have elements of androgyny
showed most of what she was and the individual didn’t seem she was
experiencing on a daily basis. The friends with too many girls.
pictures exhibited a sort of storytelling
through combination of pictures
juxtaposed into a collage (which had
pictures of her playing different sports
wearing masculine attire and hanging
out with mostly male peers).

CF5-The Poet and a Dreamer
Displayed a unique way of taking The individual appeared to do something
“selfies”. “Selfies” involved clothing revolutionary and posed to make a
with excerpts from the local poets. The statement by imprinting the works of
theme of the pictures was exaggerated literary artists.
with Photoshop to make them look
surreal and a bit dramatic.
3.2 Thematic Analysis and Process
While many research may require the participants to be present somewhere physically
for a survey, focus group or an interview, social media enables the researcher to
gather data that is spontaneous content concerning a viewer’s opinion, idea or belief.
Mitra (2010) suggested that even small narrative bits could tell a short story about an
individual. Her research further posits that the narrative bits can be taken as data and
analyzed. Thus an insight can be formed about the audiences, viewers and consumers
by gathering and analyzing data that is coherent to people’s attitude and thoughts.
In this study a thematic analysis is also used to analyze the narrative bits and viewers’
opinion, namely the comments generated by the selfies of the individuals under study.
This particular qualitative approach is appropriate to the viewer’s interaction with
seflies of the individual under study. By conducting the thematic analysis devised by
Wang (2015), the comments are going to be categorized into possible themes,
overarching themes and sub-themes to make sense of the data.

3.3 Inductive Thematic Elements
Theme: Memory
Sub-Theme 1
Title Brand Recall
Explanation The ability to remember certain brand names.
Indicator Referencing brand names in the comments.
Example “Is that a Chanel crocodile skin bag I see?”
Sub-Theme 2
Title Product Recall
Explanation The ability to remember certain products.
Indicator Referencing products in the comment section.
Example “I love the little polka dot dress”.
Sub-Theme 3
Title Discourse Recall
Explanation The ability to recall remarks incoherent to the picture.
Indicator Quoting or referencing a popular song lyric.
Example “I’ma get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans” Katy Perry
(2010)
Theme: Identification
Sub-Theme 1
Title Perceived Similarities
Explanation Perception of being similar or equivalent to the studied individual.
Indicators Expressing approval, likeness, and resemblance in the comments.
Example “Hell yeah, Twinning”, “Twins”, “I feel the same” “same” etc.
Sub-Theme 2
Title Figurehead, Role Model
Explanation Intentions to see the individual under study as an example to imitate.
Indicators Expressing the desire to be like the studied individual.
Example “My dream is to be as amazing or confident as you”.
Theme: Para-social Interactions
Theme 1
Title Self-disclosure
Explanation Revealing private and personal information or knowledge.
Indicators Disclosing personal details, feelings or facts.
Example “Call me! Both of my parents are out of work…”
Sub-Theme 2
Title Expression of Emotion
Explanation Expressing feelings of emotion or affection in the comments.
Indicators Disclosing personal feelings towards the other.
Example “I love you so much.” “You’re the reason I’m living.”
Sub-Theme 3
Title Perceived Intimacy
Explanation Perception of familiarity or friendship towards the studied individual.
Indicators Expressing amity, attachment in the comments.
Example “Come to India I’ll buy you a donut….”
Sub-Theme 4
Title Involvement
Explanation Sense of being involved in the studied individual’s life.

Indicator Referencing details to show participation in their life.
Example “Did you buy a new house?”
Theme: Worship
Sub-Theme 1
Title Intense-Personal
Explanation Having intense feelings for the individual under study.
Indicator Expressing praise or adoration for the individual.
Example “I love you to an extreme extent.”
Sub-Theme 2
Title Physical Attraction
Explanation Praising one’s physical appearance.
Indicator Expressing praise for other’s beauty or appearance.
Example “Omg I can’t get over how beautiful you are! :)”
Sub-Theme 3
Title Personality
Explanation Complimenting the characteristics or behavior traits of the
individual.
Indicator Expressing praise or adoration for the personality of the individual.
Example “I just simply love your graceful manner and poise”.
Theme: Seeking guidance
Sub-Theme 1
Title Attire, Clothing
Explanation Asking for advice on clothing and style items.

Indicator Consulting on style and fashion practices.
Example “Where would I be able to get those skinny jeans from that you are
so beautifully sporting?”
Sub-Theme 2
Title Beauty and decoration
Explanation Asking for advice on beauty and make up tips.
Indicator Consulting on beauty and make up instructions.
Example “Absolutely love the make up, can u do a make up tutorial?”
Sub-Theme 3
Title Health and lifestyle
Explanation Asking for advice on health and lifestyle.
Indicator Asking for recommending health care tips.
Example “Can you please send us your skin care routine, please?”
Theme Criticism
Definition Expressing disapproval or passing a judgment.
Indicators Commenting or posting criticism, harsh comments, abusive or
informal language.
Example “You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being.”
Theme Cognitive Judgment
Definition Ability to make sensible decisions and judgment.
Indicators Showing stages of cognition like memory, reasoning and cognition.
Example “Guys, she’s famous but still wears the same piece of clothing twice a
week”.
3.4 Analysis of the Viewers’ Comments
This study analyzes the selfies of the individuals under study and associated
commentary on a social media network that is Facebook. In the presence of overt
communication of the followers and friends, their spontaneous feedbacks and
comments will be observed cognizant of the gender in the online interactions.
The research involved 10 sampled pages with over 5000 selfies relative to individuals
under study. The selfies were sampled through systematic random sampling, in which
the total number of selfies posted in one month by one sampled individual was
divided by the total number of relative sampled pages, for example
Number of selfies by RFU-1 in the time period chosen = 10
Sampled pages relative to RFU-1 + RFU-2 + RFU-3 + RFU-4 + RFU-5 = 5
Sample= 10 ÷ 5 = 2
However, the comments were sampled through simple random sampling, which was
convenient and less time consuming for the researcher.
This method allowed the selection of images, which enabled the researcher to conduct
a qualitative analysis and thematic study of viewer micro-comments, which answered
the research question and hypothesis constructed in chapter 2 of the research.
To analyze the micro-comments on the studied individual’s personal images, two
selfies were sampled through systematic random sampling in which the comment
responses were examined for the study.

(Model and Internet Sensation)
Selfie no.1
This selfie was posted as a response to the Indian cricket team winning the match
against Pakistan in the Eden Gardens World T20 match of 2016. The selfie involves
the model wearing a two-piece swimsuit, exhibiting a feminine touch using her hands
to trace her body inappropriately in a passive position hiding her face with her.
The viewer commented on the feminine touch of the individual and pointing out the
sparse clothing in her selfie. The individual was seen as an object by the male gaze
rather than a subject. The male gender was prominent in the comment section. Most
men in her comment section associated negative stereotypes with the individual, that
she’s a vulgar and immoral woman for wearing little clothing in her selfie and the
way she’s demeaning the name of Pakistan and Pakistanis.
However, the individual on the other hand also provided a minimal cue in her caption
saying “for the Indian cricket team!” which didn’t help much in going beyond the
gender stereotyping by the viewers. The focus of the comments is more intimate and
pointing towards the protagonist’s revealing attire and seductiveness of her posture.
While the majority of the comments are negative filled with hate and criticism by her
followers, there are also positive comments, which display also a peripheral and a
central route.
However, the theme of cognitive element was found to be reflecting the latter in the
comments. For example, unlike most comments, which criticized the individual for
her costume, the viewers noticed that the individual was belittled for wearing a two-
piece (which is irrelevant in the cultural context of Pakistan). The viewers induced a
more cognitive judgment to contemplate as to why’s being judged severely for
wearing a bikini.
Those viewers represented a more different opinion in the comments. Some even
criticized the way the people were commenting. The comments selected through
simple random sampling are mentioned below:
“just because she’s wearing a bikini does not make her vulgar”. (1100)
“if men can post gym selfies in nickers then why are u criticizing her”. (111)
“are you all mentally retarded?”(3310)
“Most men on here are commenting that she’s pathetic but still look at her pictures
for satisfaction”. (3670)
As cognitive judgment was one of the themes, which reflected the viewer’s argument
over the comments, taking the central route, it can be assessed that most of the
viewers judged the individual mainly because of the way she was dressed. This made
the viewers associate negative stereotypes with the individual under study.
RFU-1 Selfie no.2
A week later, the individual under study posted another selfie at a famous fast food
restaurant with a suggestive caption; coupled with a wink and a laughing emoji. The
selfie involved the individual wearing a black sheer crop-top with skinny jeans
standing with legs crossed, her head canted and displaying a kissing pout. This selfie
post was able to garner a lot comments mainly because of the rousing caption.
Almost all the comments on this selfie were directed towards the gender of the
individual while some of the comments questioned the individual’s gender. Moreover,
the comments displayed a high stereotypical frame association with the individual’s
character because of her revealing attire and the posture imbalance. Consequently, the
male gaze made the subject an erotic object for the male scopophilia.
The individual has opened herself up to slut-shaming for baring her cleavage and
acting outside the norm (posting a provocative caption in order to be humorous) for
which she was shamed in the comment section by her followers, which exacerbated
harmful gender stereotypes like calling the subject a “trollop”.
Furthermore, the comments espoused the idea that there is something wrong with the
girl for embracing her sexuality, as the followers tagged their friends to encourage the
visitors to post obscene comments under the selfie in order to “put this woman in her
place.”(111)
During the analysis, it was found that males solely did not lead the attack on the
subject and her sexuality; there were female followers involved. According to the
sampled comments, the researcher was only able to sample 2 comments, which
belonged to a female follower who referred to the subject with abusive words
ridiculing the individual.
The researcher also looked at what people recalled in the comments in relation to the
inductive theme elements, and discovered three themes namely, the brand and product
recall and self-disclosure. The first theme recalled in the comments was the brand and
how the followers talked about the fast-food restaurant. The viewers also mentioned
the products of restaurant in their comments.
Viewers also recalled the third theme, where the male followers disclosed their
personal information in the comments like address, caste and religious beliefs, an
example can be seen by the following comment sampled:
“Name, zohaib Raza, age 28, caste Yousuf zai, Urdu speaking Sunni, Muslim, height
5"11,weight 69, eyes colour brown,live in Karachi north nazimabad house no 11
khaiban-e-gulshan” (1330)
RFU-2 (Politician and a Social Activist)
Selfie no.1
The first selfie taken for analysis is a picture at her wedding wearing a traditional
bridal dress and diamond jewelry. In the selfie, the individual has withdrawn her gaze
(lowered eyes) sitting in a posture, which in local context could be termed as
“modest”.
The individual was mainly seen as an object by the male gaze who praised her beauty
and appearance. Almost all the comments sampled complimented the individual on
her traditional gender representation. Viewers commented on her posture by
commenting that she’s “sitting so gracefully” and “representing what a true Pakistani
woman looks like.”
The association of stereotypes was further linked in other comments where men
wished to see the individual as their “wife” or women who wanted to be as elegant as
her.
Viewers reflected three themes in the micro-comments, which are brand recall,
cognitive judgment, and worship. The viewers pointed out the dress from a particular
brand, whose name they mentioned in the comments. Then the cognitive recourses of
the viewer that reflected in his comments whose contents are as follow:
“Do we really need this photo in a country when thousands of girls are not married
because they cant afford dowry?” (1975)
The followers also complimented the individual on her beauty expressing intense-
personal feelings. In the comments, the followers were mainly men who called her
“pretty”, “nice” and “elegant”. Similarly, the male followers expressed their adoration
for the individual as she represented the typical cultural gender role of a woman.
RFU-2 Selfie no.2
The second selfie sampled displayed the individual at a food festival with a friend.
She’s dressed in a simple blue sweater sporting aviator sunglasses with an expansive
smile on her face.
The comments sampled are very neutral in which viewers have commented “nice”;
this shows the approval of the followers. However, one of the comments associated a
negative stereotype with the individual by calling her a “cheerleader” of a political
party in the following words: “PPP ki rus malai…” (222)
There was also some theme reflection which was the self-disclosure and worship
theme in which a follower proposed to marry her and expressed adoration of her
beauty.
RFU-3 Socialite
Selfie no.1
RFU-3 sampled selfie displayed the individual in long skirt wearing designer
sunglasses and a handbag. The majority of the sampled comments showed the
followers attacking the individual for wearing a designer bag; by claiming “she’s
gained money through unfair means.” (111)
“she married for money guys, if you know what I mean!” (32)
“guys her father-in-laws name appeared in the panama papers, how do u thinks he
was able to afford all that luxury.” (1101)
Furthermore, negative stereotypes have been ascribed to her because of that, which
involved words like, “gold-digger” and a “money-laundering-goon”. However, most
viewers identified with the individual for her style and personality, which reflects the
theme of identification. The followers expressed in the comments that they “wish to
be like her one day.” (389) The fact that she responded to her followers in the
comments, builds a para-social relationship. It is by this influence the followers tend
to resonate with the individual under study. This can be seen by the following
comments:
“you’re so typical and I love that about you.” (16)
“I have the same jacket, yay!” (54)
Selfie no.2
The second sampled selfie displayed a rather traditionally domestic representation of
the subject. Moreover, the image has the subject in a typical gender role holding the
hand of her child and standing next to her husband with an extensive smile.
Almost all the sampled comments are praising the woman for being “independent”
and having a family. The followers has assigned the stereotype of a “hardworking
woman who knows how to maintain her family” and also called her a “good woman.”
Viewers also recalled themes of identification and worship. The viewers reflected on
the subject being relatable to them, as they see her as a strong independent family
oriented woman and complimenting the “classy” behavior of the individual under
study.
RFU-4 Self-Proclaimed Fashion Designer
Selfie no.1
RFU-4 has portrayed herself as a fashionable girl who has displayed a rather elaborate
clothing to showcase her style. In the selfie there are shopping bags on the table and
clothes on hangers. The selfie is captioned as “in my new creation”.
The viewers have stereotyped the individual as a “dumb girl” mainly because of her
typical representation as a fashion girl. Some of the viewers even went onto
antagonize her by leaving comments like,
“youre a dumb girl with no sense of style.” (241)
“the physical manifestation of money can’t buy good taste.” (221)
“daddy’s money is all you have, u clone.” (291)
She was even stereotyped as “always shopping” because of her representation on the
Internet as someone who loves fashion.
On the flipside, there were supportive comments, which involved seeking guidance
from the individual under study. Some of the followers asked her for fashion advice
and about the “current a la mode”.

The viewers also displayed a cognitive judgment of other comments and defended the
individual by saying,
“stop putting other people down to feel good about urself.” (345)
“even if she has a bad sense of style, u can say that in a much less harsher way.”
(234)
Selfie no.2
The second selfie is a close-up of her face with make-up and her fingers tracing her
lips. However, the individual has a withdrawing gaze in her picture.
The viewers who have commented are all females who are praising the girl for her
beauty and the way she has beautified herself. The individual has displayed a typical
representation by appearing as well kempt to her followers. She’s ascribed stereotypes
such as a “good girl”(11) and “doesn’t need to bear skin to get attention, perfect in
ure way.” (29)
Moreover, the viewers also asked individual for the lipstick brand she was wearing
and asked her if she could recommend them some more. A product recall of guessing
what the lipstick brand was and seeking guidance was reflected as the main themes in
the comment section.
RFU-5 Student and a Model
Selfie no.1
RFU-5 displayed herself in a close-up selfie with a slight smile on her face and with
very little make-up. The selfie is superimposed with a rainbow colored pride flag,
which posits that she’s in favor of gay marriage.

The follower was instantly stereotyped as a “kafir” (non-believer) by her followers,
who attacked her by commenting:
“we get it ure a model but stop corrupting the youth of the country by campaigning
for something so unnatural.” (222)
“u’ll burn in hell, you dog.” (291)
The individual was stereotyped for supporting the homosexuals, for which she was
termed as a “retarded-liberal”.
On the contrary there were comments by her followers who despite not knowing what
the rainbow flag symbolized, supported the individual by saying,
“nyc pic, I have same.” (191)
“u look great, I have rainbow on my picture too.” (29)
Similarly there were followers, who showed the cognitive theme by supporting the
views of the individual by commenting:
“guys there is not need to bash someone for their views” (102)
“my blood boils when people categorize you as a kafir for supporting gay rights.”
(91)
Selfie no.2
In her other selfie the individual was seen in no makeup and wearing a plaid shirt and
baggy jeans. Her hair was tied up, hands in her pocket and sporting an erect posture.
The individual captioned the picture as “behind the scenes drama.”
The followers showed disapproval of her gender-breaking representation. The
followers who were mainly men criticized her saying, “women should be feminine.”
They started assigning stereotypes with the individual’s sexuality and leaving
personal details asking her to contact them so they could “fix her”. The subject was
clearly seen as an object of desire which was somewhat of confusion to the male
viewers who wanted see her in a traditional appearance of a female.
CFU-1 Media Student
Selfie no.1
The sampled selfie of the individual was a close-up shot with a bright red lipstick and
laughing uncontrollably almost appearing to be natural in her photo.
The friends of the individual commented on her photo asking if the picture was
candid. Even though the tonality of the picture was dim, the viewers commented
calling her “pretty”, and “Mashallah” (literally appreciation).
However, a close relative on her Facebook pointed out to her and commented “ladies
don’t laugh with their mouth open, learn some manners.”
Selfie no.2
The second sampled selfie was taken at a rave party where she the individual was
wearing sheer tights and a sundress. She’s displaying a posture imbalance by crossing
her legs; hand on her waist, a canted head along with a kissing pout.
Her male peers, who posted a picture of a duckbill in response to her selfie, mocked
her for her pout in the photos. She was clearly in a manner, which didn’t appeal to the
male gaze. The female viewers however defended the individual under study by
commenting she looks “gorgeous”.

The female viewers also reflected product recall and seeking guidance. The female
viewers asked the individual where she bought the dress from and asked her how she
managed to keep her hair so perfect during the rave.
CFU-2 Magazine Director
Selfie no.1
The selfie exhibits the individual wearing a fitted suit with the background of her
office desk. She has a slight smile on her face standing with an erect posture.
The male acquaintances of the individual commented on her picture calling her
“confident”, “independent” and “stylish”. One of the comments sampled asked the
individual as to why she’s wearing a suit to work. The male viewer was clearly not
used to a non-typical representation of a woman.
Viewers also recalled identification with the individual, where mainly the female
viewers expressed they see her as a figurehead who is an inspiration to her.
Selfie no.2
The individual has presented herself in the next sampled selfie in traditional attire and
the background seems like it is of a wedding. The selfie is taken with her family
members where the individual under study is standing in a shy manner.
Viewers pointed out the way she was standing, commenting on her balance
disequilibrium. At the same time, the friends also appreciated the look by
commenting “mashallah” and “gorgeous”. The post managed to get more likes than
any of her selfies mainly because the woman was represented herself in a more
traditional role. She seemed submissive and had decorated herself to which the female
gaze also responded by reflecting on a theme of the inductive theme elements, which
also was dominant throughout the comments, that is the worship.
CFU-3 Creative Style Head of a Magazine
Selfie no.1
The selfie of the CFU-3 presents her in a cleverly crafted hairdo and uncommon
sunglasses. The individual is dressed in all black and has a slight smirk on her face
with her office as the background.
Viewers pointed out her “stern” expression asking her as to why she makes these
faces in her pictures. Similarly, one of friends even called her out as the “Ice Queen”,
because the individual almost never shows any emotion in her pictures. The
stereotype of a “dominant and ruthless” woman was ascribed to her, something that is
associated with successful female professionals.
Selfie no.2
The second selfie was again serious, and quite reflective. The individual appeared as
poised, wearing black sunglasses in her close up shot.
This selfie however only garnered praises from the friends and acquaintances who
reflected two themes: worship and seeking-guidance. The viewers mainly female
adored her beauty and asked if she could recommend her skin care routine.
“could you pls recommend me ur skin care products?” (21)
“how do u keep ur skin so flawless.” (51)
“ur skin looks amazaing. What do you do with it? (31)

CFU-4 Film Student
Selfie no.1
The selfie of the individual seems to be an unprompted moment in time. She’s
sporting a sweatshirt with messy hair in the mid-shot. The selfie is taken in front of a
mirror with her gaze into the cellphone.
The sampled selfie doesn’t have much “Likes” but one theme is reflected by the
viewers’ comments, namely worship. The content of the comments are as follow:
“looking gr8”, “beautiful” and “pretty”
Selfie no.2
The second selfie managed to get a lot of comments as in the picture; the female
chopped off her hair and captioned it as “the pixie cut”.
One of the male friends or acquaintances tried to correct the individual by saying that,
“it’s a boy cut”. The individual clearly didn’t present herself in a traditional gender
appearance. Most of the female viewers expressed shock and amazement by saying,
“wow” and “when did that happen and why?”
The selfie took the viewers by surprise, as the particular look didn’t really conform to
the male gaze or the typical standard of the female beauty ideal.
CFU-5 Fashion Student
Selfie no.1
The selfie of the individual involves a mid-shot in a simple white shirt. The comments
on the selfie are fewer but two themes reflected the opinion of the viewers. The
sampled comments asked the individual how she managed to look so fresh without
any make up on. The second theme reflected the adoration for the individual under
study in which the friends and acquaintances praised the individual for her beauty and
style.
Selfie no. 2
CFU-5’s second selfie was taken on a fashion runway where she presented her
clothing. The selfie was a full shot with the individual wearing a dress that bared her
legs. The picture was captioned as “can’t wait #nervous”.
The picture was shared on an online public community, where the male gaze
objectified her. The viewers questioned as to where the fashion show was happening
as the clothes were irrelevant in the local context. The comments, which involved
only male viewers, asked if this kind of dressing was appropriate according to local
standards.
One viewer who happened to be a male, showed cognitive resources by saying,
“don’t attack her for wearing something you don’t approve of, this is a free country
and we should be allowed to let everyone live”.(121)

3.5 Application of Theoretical Framework and the Viewers’ Comments
Selfies as a user-generated content has allowed the millennial to experiment with
multiple gender related self-representation. It has given the new media user the
opportunity to portray themselves, be it stereotypical or non-typical and thereby
giving them the chance to overcome traditional gender representations.
According to Tortajada et al. (2013) 40% of the photos upload to the social media
“Fotolog” depict a high sexualized representation of boys and girls: males show off in
a more dominant and masculine pose displaying shirtless pictures and physical
strength, while the pictures posted by the girls show them in passive positions like
lying and sitting down in a feminine fashion.
While the state of research confirms gender stereotyping in the viewers’ comments,
studies that directly compare gender stereotyping and typical representation in the
user generated content and the professional media are lacking.
Further to date, Mulvey’s male gaze theory hasbeen broadly used to analyze the data
collected. By using the application of the theory on the analysis of the data, provides a
relational framework between the selfies and the viewers’ comments.
Mulvey’s (1975) feministic views and hypothesis in the “Visual and Narrative
Pleasure” provides the truth about the patriarchal order that is dominant in almost
every culture. In her theory, she enumerated “that men get the most pleasure from the
organization of the film which demands male gaze and the subconscious ways of
seeing (formed by the hegemonic order)”.

For example, RFU-1’s and RFU-2’s selfie managed to garner massive reaction to her
selfies, the reason for it being that the individual had structured her picture. The
picture managed to attention from mainly male viewers. The picture itself posed
questions to subconscious structures of pleasure in looking.
The utilization of the Freud’s psychoanalysis theory allows the researcher to find out
that the follower attacked her because of the subconscious cultural notions and
background.
The hegemonic ideology of the culture and social context allowed the men to use the
anonymity of the Internet to attack the individual under study by calling her names
which questions a women’s repute and honor. These words itself relate to how men
look at the studied individual that is the male scopophilia and phallocentrism which
sees the phallus as dominant in defining gender imbalance.
According to Mulvey (1975) viewers usually lose interest in the film when the
elements in the film do not display the hegemonic concepts, which reflect the physical
obsession of the society. RFU-5, CFU-1, CFU-2 and CFU-3 wore more masculine
clothing and presented a gender-debunking representation. The elements of eroticism
were missing for the male gaze in the selfies, which made the men question those
women on their sexuality and gender roles.
Mulvey further suggests how media allows viewers to gratify their unconscious
scopophilia, for instance many female viewers displayed narcissistic scopophilia that
is seeing them as a surrogate for themselves. RFU-3, RFU-4, CFU-2 and CFU-5 who
were seen as figureheads by the female viewers as they openly commented expressing
their desire of wanting to be like the individuals under study.
The male gaze becomes even more complicated especially when it is applied in the
context of the new media. One of the most interesting examples of the comments on
RFU-1’s selfie while there were men who were commenting on the lack of clothing
on the individual’s body and the criticism shown by most men who said “it’s her
choice if she wants bear her body.” (231)
Women sometime normalize the objectification of the female they are viewing on
screen by participating in the male gaze as well. This can be clearly seen by CFU-4
second selfie where the female viewers expressed shocked over the individual’s
severely short hair in the selfie. She was seen as an erotic object not as a subject, who
lost all her appeal by not conforming to the traditional female beauty standards. The
male gaze focus in this case was discredited because the subject was looked at from
the perception of a man.

Chapter 4 Discussion
The study revealed that the sampled selfies evoked stereotypical comments and do so
to even a larger extent than any other media. Selfies often produced and published
often display visual codes of subordination in their images as defined by Goffman
(1979) and Kang (1997), which are as follow:
 Feminine touch
 Lying posture
 Imbalance
 Withdrawing gaze
 Loss of control
 Body display
Additionally, more renowned and public selfies were stereotyped than the ones that
were more private. Comparing the degree of gender stereotyping of the individual in
selfies, the comments turned out to be too categorizing than the representation in the
selfies. The extent of the association of stereotypes was seen more in the public
photos where people were not closely associated with the individual under study,
whereas viewers who commented on private selfies were conscious of the social
circle and the individual if they went onto ascribe stereotypes with the individual, be
they positive or negative.
According to Mulvey (1975) the male gaze can be defined as catering to the passive
and active roles that satisfies the spectator. The spectator in this case is the man
according to the existing patriarchal order we live in, and the spectacle a woman. This
is supported by Freud’s view of mirror reflection of oneself, a more egotistical image,

where he wants the woman to be according to his liking. She is seen as an erotic and
passive object, which fulfills the fantasies of the viewer made by the viewer.
User-generated content obviously doesn’t lead to mitigation of stereotypical gender
portrayal but it does effect the perception and the opinion of the viewer. For instance,
RFU-1 portrayed herself in an erotic manner, for which she was assigned lexicons,
which can’t be reproduced in the paper because of journalistic ethics.
Typically, the picture was able to arouse the attention of mainly man, which was the
dominant gender in the micro-comment section. She was the object of the male gaze
and yet the men slut-shamed the individual, which showed the very dominant and
phallocentric view of the patriarchal society. This finding renders the researcher’s
second hypothesis true H (2) which states the correlation between the male gaze and
objectification of a female in her selfies.
In the exploratory study, the researcher has also looked into the viewers’ involvement
with the individuals’ selfie and their interaction with individual. This was done
through the user-generated micro-comments on the selfie examined through a
thematic analysis.
RQ 3 asked about to what extent were the themes prominent in the comments. The
themes were present in almost all the comments sampled. The findings showed that
there were themes present in the comments.
A parasocial relationship was formed with the personal in the selfie, which was one of
the themes. The analysis of the comments shows the viewers’ involvement with the
selfies of the individuals. First, there was self-disclosure where viewers disclosed
their affectionate feelings for RFU-1 and RFU-2 while some male viewers revealed
information about their whereabouts. Moreover, they expressed emotions when they
left interpersonal comments under the selfies telling her that they love the individual
and miss her.
Two themes regarding identification also emerged which involved perceived
similarity where the female viewers related to RFU-3 and RFU-5 because of certain
elements in their pictures. The viewers even reflected upon another theme where the
viewers expressed that they see the individuals under study as an inspiration.
The comments also displayed themes related to the personality of the studied
individuals. The viewers expressed how much they admired the personality of the
individual under study.
There were other themes, which dealt with seeking guidance and cognitive resources.
The viewers asked for guidance on particular things like skins care routine and make-
up tutorials in the comments. At the same time, the viewers showed cognitive
judgment in the comments by trying to make sense of the other comments and
defending the individual under study. The themes indicated that the process was
present to a significant amount in the comments.
Self-representation on Facebook in this case was seen to be the best portrayal of the
individuals under study. The women associated themselves with valued topics like art,
fashion, literature, politics and political correctness.

The mentioned topics in the selfies differed from each other in a more spontaneous
manner- having an instant opinion, taking a selfie and posting it to the social network
as an observation, depicted a curated image from a visual diary, which gives the
viewer a more clear sense of style of the individual.
Most of the studied individuals received feedbacks in the comment sections on their
activities from their friends and followers, who described them in the following
keywords: as “working a lot”, “independent”, “busy”, “hilarious”, “imaginative”,
“charismatic”, “crazy” or having an “exciting and great life”. The feedback was
somewhat congruent with the image the women had portrayed with their selfies. On
the other these reflections could possibly be interpreted as based on wishful thinking
and therefor represented how the women like to be seen than how the viewers saw
them.
The viewers’ comments on the public profiles of the renowned Facebook user were
more prone to the followers associating typical stereotypes to the individual under
study. This emphasized on the idea of Papacharissi (2011) self-presentation being an
ever-evolving cycle where the identity of an individual is compared based on their
portrayal.
During the netnography study 17 topics were noticed in the selfies of the individuals
under study which were fashion and beauty, literature, political correctness, work,
education etc.), which were used only sporadically. Few of the reporting topics were
detected and identified as dominant in the study because of the sampling.
Most popular seemed selfie was related to fashion and beauty, from what it was
concluded that most studied individual wished to be seen as trendy and literate about
the current fashion. On the flip side, those individuals were the ones who were
antagonized for their choice of clothing as seen in the case of RFU-1, RFU-2 and
RFU-3. Another conclusion that was drawn from the selifes that the studied
individuals were rarely political except for RFU-2 (a political figure but never took
pictures at her workplace or at work) and RFU-5 (for superimposing gay pride flag
against her selfie) where as some of the individuals under study (RFU-1 and CFU-4)
aimed to be a bit unsettling or forward thinking when it came to topics such as fashion
(choice of clothing).
Work related posts were also found in most of the selfies. These selfies were
interpreted as a wish to be seen busy by the individual. In line with the idea, the work-
related posts were normally connoted with positive comments.
The women under study struggled to remain true to a certain criteria or a style, which
matched the rest of their feed. For instance, in the case of RFU-1, the individual was
just a local sensation but during the research time period the individual managed to
gain overnight success and took to many different styles which were difficult to
analyze as it varied from her whole feed.
Finally, the conclusion for the RQ 4 can be drawn from the above analysis is that
extent of the thematic elements in the micro-comments section and topics in the selfie
are correlative, i.e. the selfies of the individuals, which dealt with the topic of fashion,
were seen by the viewers as lacking intelligence and mainly a subject to the male gaze
whereas women like CFU-2, CFU-3 and CFU-4 were seen not confirming to the
traditional gender roles.

Chapter 5 Conclusion
The selfies as user-generated content are new form of visual communication, which
seems to be getting very popular among people. They are on display on different
social media portals for the public to access. Similarly, the selfies as a subject have
become a topic of debate relative to computer mediated research, human
communication research, media psychology and gender research.
Thus, selfies inevitably deal with gender expressions in a way that, an individual
producing a selfie brings certain gender impression (by clothing, styling or
appearance) or creates gender expressions while taking the selfie for instance through
posture, way of acting and manner.
According to Taylor et al. (2003) there is a ubiquity in the gender stereotypes in our
culture, as these stereotypes are useful in a cognitive way - which helps to categorize
thereby simplifying life experiences.
Gender stereotypes on the other hand are used in order to create a pictures and
messages which are easier for the recipients to decode and understand (for instance
simple image representation of a typical and attractive female and male at first glance)
(Tortajada, 2013). Stereotypes also tend to over simplify thereby creating social
norms and social hierarchies (Taylor, 2003).
When it comes to viewing a particular photo, different people have different opinion
regarding it. The user-generated comments don’t decrease the amount of stereotypical
gender representation on the Internet. The individuals chosen for the study obviously
had authority on their pages and the way they represented themselves but some were
still stereotyped and attacked by the viewers for not conforming to the ideological
concept of the society. Finding revealed that some individuals under study were
assigned with negative stereotypes while some with positive.
The research findings found that female objectification still occurs even if the woman
is representing herself in gender-debunking image. Feminism now has become a
cultural force to be reckoned with and yet objectification still endures. The male gaze
still manages to objectify females and so does the female gaze, which looks at the
women from the perception of a man.
Furthermore, the research also focused on viewer’s involvement with content
producer and the content. The research looked into spontaneous comments not only
concentrating on the stereotypical comments but on the relationship the viewers share
with the individual.
Previous researches on user-generated content paid more attention to the consumer
behavior and attitude in the comments. This study however developed a code scheme,
which allowed the researcher to not only categorize the comments but also find out
the extent of the parasocial relationship between the viewer and the selfie.
5.1 Limitations and Recommendations
The exploratory study however had some limitations, which restricted the researcher
from achieving maximum results. The theoretical framework proposed by Mulvey
(1975) used in relevance to the content analysis of the comments covered a limited
amount of variable relative to gender stereotyping. Further studies could help the
researcher analyze the content on a broader spectrum for example, clothing, hair and
make-up, styling).
Various limitations existed in the study, but the main limitation was in the application
of the theoretical framework. The main aspect of the theory, which talked about male
gaze, it was complicated in a way that the gaze can be very complicated to measure
when it comes to new media like the Internet, which affected the results of hypothesis
(H 1).
A qualitative content analysis by definition only concentrates on the features of the
content itself and does not provide a researcher with the information about the process
of creation, its content users, the reception process and the subsequent effects on the
audience. Therefore, further studies are needed to explore as to why and how female
produce or not produce selfies that are gender stereotypical or non-typical in certain
ways for example to what degree is the gender expression planned or is it
spontaneous.
Another open question, which can be researched upon, difference between gender role
conformity, which is appreciated across different milieus, and the stereotyping of
gender, which is thought of as inauthentic, negative or cheap?
The use of kissing pout, which has been ironically branded on the Internet as duck-
face, indicates a critical distance between visual selfies of the female. This scenario
was present in the study as CFU-1 displayed the kissing pout for which she was
ridiculed and related to a duck by her male peers. As the “kissing pout” has been
established on the Internet but its categorization in the visual gender stereotyping is
still vague.
During the research, Facebook took down RFU-1’s profile page for violating the
guidelines. The reason for the temporary censorship of the page was that it displayed
nudity and contained obscene texts. This limitation restricted the researcher from
collecting the data for at least 48 hours.
Questions related to the creation and perception towards more or less stereotypical
representation online would not only serve as a good research study but also prove to
be beneficial for media education. Discussing it in length by conducting different
focus groups with social media users will also help in promoting social media
literacy.
It needs to be noted that the research focused on a purposive sampling where the
study focused specifically on women and mainstream imagery. To explore selfies,
which deviate from traditional gender representation and expressions, it is necessary
to choose images, which would otherwise add diversity to the research to sample
images, created by people from feminist backgrounds and people from gender or
sexual minorities.
Those selfies can be tracked via hashtags like #queerselfie, #feministselfie,
#transselfie or #lgbtqseflie. With the ubiquitous gender stereotypes this study will
allow the researcher to find out whether the feedback on their gender-alternative selfie
empowers them or disempowers them via hate mail or micro-comments. Also, it is

not certain if this kind of study can be conducted in the local context, as it could
possibly subject to censorship.
Since the research adopted an interpretative thematic analysis to analyze the
comments of the viewers under the selfie, with the addition of a quantitative data it
would enable the researcher to find out the effect of the selfie in terms of
psychological and consumer behavior. Additionally, a survey can be conducted to
know about the demographics’ background (age and gender) that follows the
individuals under study on the social network. With more understanding and research,
it’ll enable the researcher to have a better understanding of the new and ever
advancing phenomenon that is the Internet.
5.2 Future Research
Future research might include a larger sample and also the inclusion of other gender
to see if the results will vary or change. At the same time a survey will be conducted
as to why viewers associate gender stereotypes with the individual they are viewing
online. The researcher would also like to find out whether counter-active gaze works
when it comes to viewing men as an “object” in the selfies.
In addition to the influence of selfies on the viewers, the self-socialization of the
males and females under study should also be taken into consideration, i.e. the
interaction between the individual under study and the follower or the lack thereof. At
the same time the imitation of the gender stereotypical or non-typical representation
imitated by other Facebook selfie producers irrespective of gender.

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78
and Comments on Selfies

ORIGINALITY REPORT
14 %
SIMILARIT Y INDEX
3%
INT ERNET SOURCES
2%
PUBLICAT IONS
10%
ST UDENT PAPERS
PRIMARY SOURCES
Submitted to Higher Education Commission

1
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8%
St udent Paper
Döring, Nicola, Anne Reif, and Sandra

2
Poeschl. "How gender-stereotypical are
1%
selfies? A content analysis and comparison
with magazine adverts", Computers in
Human Behavior, 2016.
Publicat ion
www.diva-portal.org
3 Int ernet Source 1%
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4 Int ernet Source <1%
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5 St udent Paper <1%
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Ledbetter, A. M., J. P. Mazer, J. M. DeGroot,
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K. R. Meyer, Yuping Mao, and B. Swafford.
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"Attitudes Toward Online Social Connection
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Submitted to Winthrop University

Alfarhoud, Yousef T., Badr Alahmad, Latifah
24
Alqahtani, and Abdulaziz Alhassan. "The
<1%
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Social Media during Classes", International
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Female Selfies and Viewers’ Comments

Female Selfies on Facebook

Research Advisor Researcher

supervision of my thesis advisor Ms. Werdah Munib.

Abdus Samad Khan

of Mass Communication initiated a research entitled “Female Selfies on Facebook: A

Study of Viewers’ Opinion and Comments on Selfies” under my supervision. It is to

Advisor’s Name: Werdah Munib

advisor and lecturer of media communications at Beaconhouse National University, for

her help and inspiring suggestions through the tedious process.

constant source of encouragement and help.

development of the research and inspiring me to do better, Shanzay Salman without

making the brain look pretty and my family, obviously.

generated self-portraits draws comments of the viewers who associate different

stereotypes or themes to the individuals in the selfie.

To investigate the degree of gender stereotyping and theme association, a systematic

sampling and taken into focus for qualitative content analysis.

sense of the picture because of subconscious ideological and socio-cultural concepts

Keywords: Selfies on Facebook, Stereotypes in Viewers Comments, Social Media

Networking, User-Generated Content

1.2 Background of the Study…………..…………………………………………...….2

Chapter 2 Research Methodology ............................................................................ 29

2.0.1 Research Design.................................................................................................. 29

Chapter 3 Data Interpretation .................................................................................. 35

3.1 Analysis of the Self-Representation of Individuals under Study ........................... 36

3.2 Thematic Analysis and Process ............................................................................. 41

Chapter 4 Discussion ................................................................................................. 64

Chapter 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 69

5.1 Limitations and Recommendations........................................................................ 70

condition for flow of information. In contemporary context globalization is used to

indicate great speed of exchange of information across immeasurable distances

the intellectual, political, and above all social spheres of a society.

Pervasive access to different mediums of media has given rise to 24-hour

information, knowledge and entertainment.

themes and meta-messages, which involves priming of a subject, thereby influencing

the mass opinion.

consume media messages uncritically (Philo, et al. 2008).

1.2 Background of the Study

 The Digitalization of the World

In a technological world of today, the smartphones have allowed an individual to

access anything anywhere unrestricted by time constraints and geography. An iPhone

changing the very face of the digital world (Ibid.).

Generation (3G) was launched in Japan hinting the beginning of digitalization

towards a new dimension, which involved accessing Internet wirelessly through

smartphones, and computer based devices (UMTS world, 2007).

downloading with a blink of an eye. Consequently, the tech industry started

developing a Fourth Generation (4G) data optimized technologies gave birth to a

completely digitalized and modernized world of technology (Saeed, 2010).

 History of Social Media: How it all Began

increasing influence on people’s lives.

Media are web-based communities where ideas, interests, exchange of information

pictures/videos by people in cyber communities and networks. However, there are

four essential points, which are the foundation of a social media:

networking site). According to website WhatIs.com (2010) increasingly now a social

2. User-Generated Content also known as (UGC) which happens to be the lifeblood of

other users through profiles, groups or communities (Ellison, 2007).

& Kaye, 2010).

which was a business-oriented computer-based communication system. However, the

At the end of 90’s tutoring websites like Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com