In the era of social networking selfies have become so popular that even celebrities can’t resist sharing these photos on daily basis. James Franco is one of the stars who love posting self-portraits and he wrote a column in The New York Times in which he explains the phenomenon of selfies.

“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,” he writes.

The actor compares self-portrait photos to the movie industry. He says: “You’re safe if you trade ‘one for them’ with ‘one for yourself,’ meaning for every photo of a book, painting or poem, I try to post a selfie with a puppy, a topless selfie or a selfie with Seth Rogen, because these are all things that are generally liked.”

Franco also added that he likes browsing other people’s selfies on Instagram because that way you get to know who that person is.

“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” he wrote. “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.'”

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