When I scroll through my Instagram feed, sometimes I’ll see ten photos from the same user, all selfies. When people take photos of themselves and post them online, it opens up an opportunity for others to see what’s going on in their life. How are they feeling? Where are they? What are they doing? This is the point of social media in general, but why post selfies in particular?

Jenna Wortham, a New York Times columnist, said in her article about taking selfies, My Selfie, Myself, “…we’re better off seeing selfies for what they are at their best — a kind of visual diary, a way to mark our short existence and hold it up to others as proof that we were here.” I think that is partly true. Sometimes when I trust my iPod alone with friends, they’ll turn on the front camera and take at least fifteen pictures of themselves (I think the most they’ve taken is about 400 pictures). This may be their way of saying “I was here” to anyone who scrolls through my photos.

But it also may be “Lauren’s not here and I’m bored. What can I do? Take pictures!” I will see pictures online of just people sitting in their room making silly faces at a camera, not doing much at all. It’s just something to post on social media or send to a friend when you don’t have any idea what to post or send. Just a time-filler.

When there’s nothing necessarily exciting to take a picture of, what’s your last resort? Yourself! If watching yourself smile and look pretty or sticking your tongue out and looking like a goofball can keep you from boredom, it’s better than nothing.