Actor James Franco Explains What The 'Selfie' Craze Is All About

Actor +James Franco can be irritating at times. He never misses an opportunity to opine about something whether he knows what he's talking about or not. However, occasionally he does offer some insightful commentary. Franco recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Times explaining why the "selfie" is important in our culture.

For those who don't know James Franco is known as the king of selfies. He takes them constantly and in all kinds of situations. His Instagram is awash in photos he's taken of himself. So in this instance he's quite qualified to speak on the subject.

Here's a taste of what he had to say:

But a well-stocked collection of selfies seems to get attention. And attention seems to be the name of the game when it comes to social networking. In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible. ... We all have different reasons for posting them, but, in the end, selfies are avatars: Mini-Me’s that we send out to give others a sense of who we are. I am actually turned off when I look at an account and don’t see any selfies, because I want to know whom I’m dealing with. In our age of social networking, the selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, “Hello, this is me.”

That last sentence is particularly interesting. The idea that a selfie is simply a way to look someone in the eye and let them know what you're all about is not something I had considered before but makes a lot of sense.

What do you think? Is James Franco on to something here or not?

(H/T Mashable)