--- title: Why My Selfies Look Weird: Science Explains Ugly Selfies description: And it's not just your face canonical: https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-27T16:30:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:15.508Z og:title: There's A Scientific Reason for Why You Look Weird In Selfies og:description: And it's not just your face og:url: https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There's A Scientific Reason for Why You Look Weird In Selfies twitter:description: And it's not just your face twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # There's A Scientific Reason for Why You Look Weird In Selfies ## Video: This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like [Watch (HLS stream): This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tIyzRJcR.m3u8) (2:55)  _Published 2015-10-01. As Instagram turns 5, the co-founder and CEO talks about where the app is headed_ by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 27, 2014 4:30 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 27, 2014 4:30 PM UTC There are many reasons why you look weird in selfies. Sometimes it’s simply because you have a weird-looking face (sorry, guys.) Sometimes it’s because you’re a trend-following [_New York Times_ Style Section reader](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/fashion/selfies-the-uglier-the-better-technology.html) who knows ugly ([and preferably monocled](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/fashion/the-monocle-returns-as-a-fashion-accessory.html)) is the new pretty. Sometimes it’s because you posed like this: > [](https://twitter.com/newscomauHQ/status/446891880916062208) But [Nolan Feeney at ](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/why-selfies-sometimes-look-weird-to-their-subjects/359567/)[_The Atlantic_](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/why-selfies-sometimes-look-weird-to-their-subjects/359567/)says that there’s a completely separate reason why photo subjects think they look a little off in their selfies. And that reason is science. Specifically, science of the brain. We are used to identifying with our faces as they would appear in a mirror, but when we take a selfie, the camera captures our faces as strangers would see us from head on rather than we would see ourselves in a reflection. Emotionally unprepared to see our unsymmetrical faces tilting in a slightly different way, we sometimes approach selfies with confusion and disdain. There’s also the technical issue of our [close-range camera phone lenses distorting our faces.](http://bakerdh.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/face-distortion-is-not-due-to-lens-distortion/) But is this a reason to say no to the selfie for self preservation’s sake? Hogwash. While some say [selfies make people narcissistic](http://time.com/35478/how-can-i-make-this-news-linking-selfies-and-narcissism-about-me/), others say that they actually make them more comfortable in their own skin. Because the more times you take a selfie, the more comfortable you are seeing your face in all angles. And as long as your hair looks good, who cares about the other stuff, anyway? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/"},"headline":"There's A Scientific Reason for Why You Look Weird In Selfies","datePublished":"2014-03-27T16:30:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:15.508Z","description":"It's not just your face","url":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","Internet","Brain","Phone","Science topic","Instagram","selfie"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/","name":"There's A Scientific Reason for Why You Look Weird In Selfies"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like","description":"As Instagram turns 5, the co-founder and CEO talks about where the app is headed","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tIyzRJcR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-01T14:01:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tIyzRJcR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/","duration":"PT2M55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/40254/selfies-science/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```