Stop the #PostCoitalSleaze

By Anne Marie Miranda | Staff Writer

As if selfies weren’t annoying enough, Instagram users are taking selfies to the next level and posting pictures of their post-sexual encounters, hashtagging them #aftersex.

What ever happened to romance? What happened to embracing one another after sex?

Apparently today’s narcissists think that once the deed is done, it’s time to jump off each other and spend what should be intimate private time choosing a filter to focus public attention on messy sheets and tousled sex hair.

I’m pretty positive my mom doesn’t want to wake up drinking her cup of coffee, scrolling through her feed to find me on top of my boyfriend, naked. Well neither does anyone else.

Nerve.com was the first to report on the trend calling it “voyeuristic” noting that the pictures are posted with full knowledge which can and will be searched by anonymous eyes.

Hashtags have several major benefits. For example, they make it easy for nonprofits to be heard on specific causes through social media. However, it is disturbing to discover that some people are so desperate for likes that they sacrifice all self-respect by taking and posting these pictures that are forever on the Internet.

Whether it is a joke, or not people are actually following the trend, perhaps oblivious to the fact that these pictures are forever on the Internet. When one is ready to get married, is Googled by future employers, or wants to be taken seriously, this will be the reputation that will forever follow them.  It’s like getting a tattoo of a significant others name… it’s permanent.

Instead of following this demeaning trend, Instagram users should look into the hash tags that can actually benefit a cause like the #nomakeupselfie that has raised eight million for cancer research.

We need to be showing future generations that it is not ok to use social media irresponsibly. I’d rather see pictures of the sushi someone had for lunch rather than a demeaning photo of a couple after sex.

Hashtags, such as #selfieswithhomelesspeople,#funeralselfie or the #aftersex are an abuse of social media. These aren’t sitiations to be poked fun at.

Such disrespect is an abuse of social media that people came up with to get a rise, but these selfies are not funny and they will never go away.

If people want to “get some” that is their decision. Whatever happens in the bedroom shouldn’t go on Instagram. For the preservation of self-respect, leave the cell phones and cameras on the nightstand.

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