Whether you’re a selfie aficionado or an Insta-newbie, taking pictures of yourself can have disastrous consequences — ones you’d never post on social media, except to prove how down-to-earth and hilarious you are.
Now, thankfully, some clever person has come up with scientific evidence for what makes a flattering selfie (apart from Facetune and filters).
Dr Anukka Lindell, a lecturer at La Trobe University in Melbourne, published a study saying your left side is where it's at. In Frontiers In Psychology, Lindell explains that she started by searching the ‘selfie’ hashtag and, after analysing over 2000 pictures, realised the majority were taken from the left, rather than front-on or from the right. She said of her findings: '92% of the sample showed an overall posing bias, with 41% favouring their left cheek, 31.5% preferring their right cheek, and 19.5% repeatedly posting midline selfies’.
She continues: ‘Whilst research indicates that midline poses are perceived as being just as emotionally expressive as left-cheek poses, they are less-frequently adopted for a simple reason: they appear less flattering. Tips for posing for the 'perfect portrait' and the 'perfect selfie' regularly include avoid facing the camera head on in a midline pose, unless one is aiming to look bigger; instead, adopting a 3/4 or 2/3 turn toward the camera is encourages as it introduces more angles, highlights the cheekbones, and makes the subject of the photo appear slimmer.’
Though the research isn't particularly complex, what better way to learn than from the Insta-experts?
Let’s recap: hold the camera (phone) the left and tilt your face towards the camera, aaand best selfie ever. Now wait for the #likes to come rolling in…
Read More: 7 Top Tips For Taking The Perfect Selfie