The early 20th century saw new forms of mechanical reproduction making their way into the cultural realms of society. If photography is today a recognized art form, associated with popular culture, this was not the case in the 19th century. Photography has long since ceased to be reserved for an elite. Photography, now also an amateur practice, is no longer reserved for special occasions. Popular photography, characterized by the selfie, quickly became an everyday cultural habit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Selfies are ubiquitous and widely found on social media platforms. However, the format of photographic self-portraits is not a new idea. This format was actively shared and exchanged in the 19th century, ushering in a new photographic era characterized by mass reproduction. In the early days of photography, (self)portraits were the most popular genre. Photographers imitated the style of the painted portraits, aligning themselves with the artists and the serious attitude of the painted portraits. This was done because the artistic pretensions of photography were often ignored. As we said, photographic skills were not considered artistic talent, because their technique was considered a mechanical reproduction of reality. Although the selfie is thus related to the traditional photographic self-portrait, its contemporary attributes include metadata and the ability for the user to modify the selfie with filters, adjustment tools, and other means. Furthermore, the instantaneous circulation of an image via Instagram significantly differentiates the selfie from its photographic predecessors since in Benjamin's time, the only way to see an image was in its printed form. With the ability to post your selfies online for the world to see, you no longer have to wait to be satisfied. As Benjamin (2005) mentions, “one of the main tasks of art has always been the creation of a demand that could only be fully satisfied later”. This is no longer the case, because likes and comments allow an immediate reaction. Posting images on Instagram can be understood as a constant exchange of instant interactions. Users can share their selfies and their followers can respond instantly via likes and comments. As of June 2016, Instagram had more than 500 million active users, more than the population of Europe at the time Benjamin wrote these lines. Instagram, one of the youngest visually oriented social networks, focuses mainly on interaction with users, and above all on sharing images and short videos to which different filters can be applied. Instagram was introduced in October 2010 and acquired by Facebook in April 2012. Similar to the impact of photography on society in the 18th century, in this era authenticity and authorship are questioned, e.g. by digital manipulation methods. For Benjamin, mechanically reproducing an image destroys its link to time and space. Researchers like WJT Mitchell have also argued that in the contemporary digital age, editing software also breaks the link with its original referent. Cropping, filtering, captioning and uploading Instagram photos have little to do with real life, time and place. Instagram photography is a practice that is less about the truthful representation of real life than about enacting social rituals and conforming to.