Are we still our authentic selves with filtered selfies?

In a world where lives are more curated than lived, what does it mean to be authentic? Or is there even room for authenticity? asks Elizabeth O’Neill

We all know the myth of Narcissus, who is cursed by Nemesis to fall in love with his own reflection and transfixed in the moment to die there lovingly gazing. A plausible modern version could have Narcissus posing with a selfie stick.

A quick internet search will tell you conflicting selfie statistics, including that 1 million of them are taken each day. In 2015, Google reported that 24 billionn selfies were posted on its servers. However, this does not take into account Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook. Another estimate claims that millennials will take 25,700 selfies in a lifetime, or spend one hour a week snapping pictures of themselves. Handstand poses on beaches, abs shots in gyms, eating artisanal sourdough bread or downing craft beer, outside, sun-drenched, all the while screaming #followme, #authenticity, #liveyourtruth.