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Why to Smile With a Millennial on National Selfie Day
Arcadia Weekly Jun 15, 2017
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Who will you smile with on National Selfie Day, June 21? – Courtesy photo / Dylan Plautz
By Monica Sanchez
Smile big and say cheese with a Millennial on June 21 for National Selfie Day. Selfies aren’t the downfall of society. Not smiling enough is!
As much as we roll our eyes at Millennials holding their phones high for a selfie in an effort to obliterate the likely possibility of the oncoming apocalypse, Millennials may actually be benefiting from all that excessive selfie-taking.
Improved Health & Lifestyle
Millennials seem to have accumulated some untapped knowledge that their cranky old grandfathers must have missed in between blasting CNN to a – still inaudible – deafening roar and checking their blood pressure.
Smiling is good for you: body and mind.
According to Dr. Mark Stibich, there are actually ten health and lifestyle benefits to smiling: “Smiling makes us attractive…relieves stress…elevates our mood…is contagious…boosts your immune system…lowers your blood pressure…makes us feel good…makes you look younger…makes you seem successful…[and] helps you stay positive” (Very Well).
The act of smiling, even faking it, can drastically improve your health and overall well-being. Activate all the benefits of smiling by jumping in a selfie with a Millennial on June 21, or better yet, photobombing with a killer troll grin.
Uniting a Nation Divided
June 21, National Selfie Day, is also known as the Summer Solstice. (See link for exact Summer Solstice times based on region.) While people in Sweden “celebrate the Summer Solstice by eating the first strawberries of the season,” Americans will celebrate by attempting to post the cutest or most bizarre selfie of their lives (Almanac).
And FYI, the Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. Yes, Millennials have diabolically selected the longest day of the year just to torture all those who despise selfies to their core.
But as much as some people would like to think that, National Selfie Day is not about posts driven by egotistical motives. It’s simply a chance to connect or reconnect with people.
In light of recent events, promoting the concept of togetherness is a trend that needs to infect the minds of young and old alike. At this point, Millennials will take any excuse to adopt that concept and let it wash over the entire country in order to unite a nation that still seems to feel divided.
As a social phenomenon, National Selfie Day creates social opportunities for people that would otherwise barely exist on any other given bland day. It wouldn’t be seen as completely abnormal on National Selfie Day to ask a random stranger to join in and take a selfie with you. Maybe National Selfie Day will grant opportunities for individuals to have positive conversations with people they normally would never talk to, thus leading to the path of emotional healing for many who were deeply affected by the recent political turmoil our nation has experienced.
Hootsuite has an article that discusses “6 Ways Social Media Helps People Help People,” in which they highlight how social media trends, such as National Selfie Day, can positively affect us. Some points they make include the facts that social media encourages “opening new lines of communication” and “sharing hope and courage” (Hootsuite).
After such division in our nation over politics and matters of social justice, let’s take a deep breath and reflect on the vital importance of these necessities just mentioned. As a nation, we need to move forward in the right direction. Endless arguing between family members and friends will not fix the rift that blocks this nation from being “great again.” (If anything, that phrase created the rift.)
Of course, taking a selfie with a few people won’t automatically fix the deep-rooted issues that cause this nation to remain divided, but creating small moments of positivity is a step in the right direction that might create a domino effect in future generations.
Millennials have long been benefiting from the effects of excessive selfie-taking with friends. It’s a simple little pastime that brings people together. And perhaps, this togetherness that Millennials experience daily will spread throughout America and beyond as a result of National Selfie Day.
Origin of National Selfie Day
“National Selfie Day was created by DJ Rick McNeely, from Fishbowl Radio Network, in Arlington, TX on June 21, 2014.” (National Selfie Day). DJ Rick McNeely created this holiday “just to see what would happen,” but he encourages people to “be a part of what we’re doing, go take a selfie, go have some fun” (National Selfie Day).
Post a Selfie!
DJ Rick can see the value of smiling for no reason. Can you?
Show Monrovia Weekly your Blue Steel selfie on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the hashtags: #MonroviaWeekly #NationalSelfieDay
We’ll vote, and tell you who’s our favorite!
