Gen Z’s Fascinated With the 0.5 Selfie

The perspective offers a more organic feel, a kind of aesthetic that many Gen Z are always looking for.

11.28.23
Gen Z’s Fascinated With the 0.5 Selfie (Getty Images)

As digital natives, who invest a lot of time in platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Gen Z is well-known for its love affair with photos. That’s particularly the case with selfies, so much so, that the generation has found countless ways to take them and to manipulate them. 

The latest item of intrigue in Gen Z’s collective photogenic journey has been the 0.5 selfie, a wide-angle perspective that became an iPhone feature with the introduction of the iPhone 11 in 2019, according to Blavity. The perspective offers a more organic feel, a kind of aesthetic that many Gen Z are always looking for. Those kinds of selfies have become a staple of Instagram stories, with users posting a host of random photos using the setting. 

Rachel Aquino, 24, described the fascination and the appeal of going with 0.5 to CNBC.

“They’re not like the usual selfie, they shouldn’t be a well thought out picture that you take,” Aquino said. “It’s something that you usually take on a whim, and something that really captures the moment in real time.”

Noah Johnson (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based journalist. Follow him on X: @noahwritestoo.

Edited by NaTyshca Pickett

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