--- 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: 2026-08-04T08:06:00.083Z 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 > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=e7c8d21c-2954-4f2d-986e-bc167f2a0e2e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## 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? ## Transcript [00:01] You can see the world happening in real time through [00:04] instagram and I think that's true whether it's Taylor [00:07] Swift's 1989 tour which trends on instagram all the [00:10] time, or an important moment like a protest over seas, [00:14] or a march like Je suis Charlie, in Paris. [ SOUND ] [00:21] [ MUSIC ] [00:24] When we launched Instragram nearly five years ago [00:27] now, October 6th of 2010, we tapped launched [00:32] Right before midnight, thinking, ok, everyone's asleep. [00:35] But, you know, we were a little naive and we didn't [00:37] realize that midnight Pacific time actually meant that it [00:41] was morning in Europe and midday elsewhere. And, all [00:45] of a sudden, people just started rolling in in droves. [00:47] The stress of keeping servers up was actually Literally [00:51] what kept us up at night. [ MUSIC ] [00:57] When I was a junior in college, I got to take a really [01:00] awesome photography class. And my photography [01:03] teacher the day I arrived, I had this new fancy camera [01:06] with a fancy lens, and he took it away and he said no, [01:09] today you're gonna use this. And it was a Plastic Holga [01:12] camera. And it took pretty blurry photos. They were [01:15] square. And he taught me you could add chemicals to [01:18] the development bath and it would change the tone of [01:20] the actual developed photo. It was just a lesson I just [01:24] applied later when we started creating Instagram. We [01:26] had to create something that incentivized you to take [01:29] photos and filters for it. So I'd say that class really put [01:33] its mark on Instagram in the long run. I [01:38] wanted, and Mike my co- founder wanted to as well, [01:42] create something where we could share what we were [01:44] doing in the moment. Images can be an international [01:47] language. You don't have to speak English to [01:50] understand someone's photo. Really pivotal [01:54] moment for us was Hurricane Sandy. An [01:58] entire coast of the United States came together on [02:02] social media in a way that I don't think you really saw [02:05] before. At the end of the day, there's no better way to [02:08] consume what's happening in the world, other than [02:11] images. And video and I think Instagram's at the [02:14] natural nexus of both of those. The [02:18] next decade, at least on Instagram, will the be decade [02:21] where we realize the power of a collective group of [02:24] people capturing the world in real time through their [02:28] phones. I don't think we quite understand how that will [02:31] Disrupt industries. I hope, in a hundred years, [02:35] that I'll be around to see what people think about [02:39] Instagram. But I know that human nature to connect [02:43] with other people and the human need to [02:46] communicate visually and To see what's happening in [02:48] the world, will never go away. 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