First Papal Selfie

This famous selfie, recognised as the first ever papal selfie was not taken by Pope Francis, but rather by the three youths in the image, with Pope Francis as a willing participant. While Pope Francis has since gone on to appear in many other selfies, this particular one stands out as being a sort of landmark in the relationship of the Vatican with selfie culture. It is a rare intersection of a centuries-old faith and an act which is most often located in youth and popular culture.

The willingness of Pope Francis to participate in this mainstream pop culture act of taking a selfie suggests the influence of selfie culture, and perhaps more importantly, that he - and by extension his church - does not disapprove of it. This clearly has consequences for the common dissenting argument that selfie culture, and more generally youth culture, is debasing, narcissitic and vacuous. It worries at the distinction between popular religion and popular culture, although arguably the two have always been related.

In participating in it, Pope Francis may be interpreted as endorsing it. From another angle, we might see religion as needing to latch onto the trends of the everyman in order to stay relevant to the culture of the people - being averse to technology in this age may have negative impacts on the popularity of the relgion among the young.