20 Years of Selfies Changed the Way I See Myself

This story is part of our Aughts Effect package, which celebrates 20 years of Popsugar - and enduring culture. The summer after my senior year of high school in 2005, I took my first real selfie. I had just gotten my college email address, which meant I could officially sign up for Facebook to connect with other incoming students in my department. I needed a profile picture, so I did full glam makeup, curled my hair, and took my digital camera to the bathroom with good, bright lighting to take a really good selfie. I probably took hundreds of photos of myself over the course of an hour or two, deleting outtakes and touching up lip gloss along the way, before I had a handful that I liked enough to upload to my computer - until I selected