“Selfie” officially became the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2013 this week. Usage in the English language has increased by a whopping 17,000% since last year, according to Oxford.
Now, let’s take a little trip back to the roots of the the social-media era’s most loved (and loathed) mode of photographic self-expression. The selfie has its own social network now, but it’s probably safe to assume that most selfies still happen on Instagram, where 55 million photos are shared each day.
SEE ALSO: The Social Psychology of the Selfie
The hashtag #selfie has been used on Instagram 57 million times, the company said. Below, according to Instagram, is the first photo tagged #selfie in the photo-sharing network’s short but illustrious history. It was uploaded on Jan. 16, 2011 by user Jennifer Lee:
Then, on Jan. 27, 2011, the day Instagram first introduced hashtags, Lee added the fateful #selfie hashtag.
At time of this writing, her post had been liked 67 times.
This Justin Bieber selfie, meanwhile, was uploaded three months ago and has since been liked 1.06 million times:
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1. The Buzz Aldrin Photobombing Neil Armstrong’s Reflection Selfie
IMAGE: NASA -
2. The Beyonce
IMAGE: TUMBLR N-UUMB -
(Okay, maybe not exactly a photobomb)
IMAGE: TUMBLR N-UUMB -
3. The Deadly Baseball Photobomb
IMAGE: @KNASHSPORTS ON INSTAGRAM -
4. The Cranky in Aisle 4
IMAGE: IMGUR, CHUCKGRAY -
5. The Animal Revenge for Selfie Addicts
IMAGE: IMGUR, DPRIUMMP -
6. The Baby
IMAGE: IMGUR, DUMMYSTUPID -
7. The Dog Butt
IMAGE: IMGUR, CDURANT -
8. The Lingerers
IMAGE: IMGUR, BREN3 -
9. The Looook Closely
IMAGE: IMGUR, MARTISHOT -
10. The Toddler Creeping