Filters and Snapchat selfies should be celebrated, not looked down on.

How many times have you asked someone to take a photo of you and it doesn’t look the way you want it? This is a problem I am all too familiar with. The only time I can count on a photo to look just the way I want it to is when I take it myself.

Generations before us don’t understand the reasons we want to be well-represented on social media. Our parents and grandparents may have had yearbook photos and polaroids, but our age group has selfies. While their main concern in appearance was looking nice out in public, we have to worry about looking nice in public and online. We have the constant digital pressure to look good.

Other generations may think nothing of it, but we know the struggle all too well. While scrolling on Instagram we see gorgeous models and celebrities. When going through Snapchat stories we see pictures of the “popular kids” from our old high school – tan, fit, and beautiful. With social media it’s not hard to let the little green monster out.

Taking a general interest in ourselves is important. Looking good in a selfie can increase happiness and boost self-confidence. Society, however, is too quick to judge when they see someone sticking out their tongue or using the dog filter on Snapchat. Judging others on how they use social media needs to stop. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look your best in a photo.

Being in college is a stressful time in a person’s life. Students are trying to figure out who they are, while also juggling school and friends. A recent study found that 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up. Almost everyone deals with self-esteem issues or compares themselves to others. Wearing a cute outfit and putting on makeup before taking a selfie may be the quick confidence boost you need.

Recent studies show that continually taking photos of ourselves increases our mental well-being. This makes sense considering that we are in complete control. When taking a selfie, we are in control of how the world sees us. Selfies can be very empowering in this way – we are in control and no one else.

Beautiful people are everywhere, which sometimes makes us doubt our own beauty. So tell me what’s wrong with taking a selfie? What’s wrong with wanting to look good and more importantly feeling good about yourself?

Selfies are great because you can play around with your best angles and facial expressions until you get the perfect photo. You can take 50 photos before you get the one that makes you smile. So keep on smiling in selfies, until that smile is real.

Brooke Martin can be reached at [email protected] or @bmartin471on Twitter.