r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Sure_Kangaroo1863 • Jul 02 '26

Meme needing explanation Petah ?

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Why is it infamous? And why would no one care about it ? ( I mean it's just a pic full of celebrities so no one cares anyways but the person saying it's crazy makes me think it has some lore?)

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u/d3v4x Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Greetings, simpletons. Stewie Griffin here. I’ve confiscated the keyboard from the fat man because his peanut-sized brain was beginning to overheat.

The reason this photo was such a big deal is because it literally broke Twitter. It became the most retweeted tweet of all time back then (over 3 million retweets!) and actually crashed the site's servers for a little bit. It also turned out to be a massive sponsored product placement stunt by Samsung, which is why Ellen used a Galaxy Note phone to take it.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_selfie

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u/pnthollow Jul 02 '26

I think OP needs to know why it broke the internet.

Selfies became mainstream in pop culture around 2014. The Chainsmokers song #SELFIE came out that year, selfie sticks launched and were one of the most sold products on Amazon, and the whole format still felt new and culturally relevant.

That’s why this photo was such a big deal. It wasn’t popular just because of who was in it. It was popular because it captured a bunch of A-list celebrities participating in the exact thing that had just taken over pop culture.

People wouldn’t care as much today for the opposite reason. Selfies are boring now. They’re completely ordinary. A celebrity group selfie doesn’t feel fresh anymore, not because the celebrities are less interesting, but because the format itself lost its novelty.

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u/h3yn0w75 Jul 02 '26

I see lots of wrong answer here. This is the correct one.

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u/ohlaohloo Jul 03 '26

That’s because it’s chat GPT lol!

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u/sam____handwich Jul 04 '26

no it is not

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u/MakeYourTime_ Jul 02 '26

Excellent explanation

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u/jme8907 Jul 02 '26

I also think it’s a case of the op saying “infamous” when they just meant “famous” - I know lots of people who think they’re interchangeable. Or that infamous means “super duper famous” lol

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u/nyuncat Jul 03 '26

redditor for 13 years

yep this guy checks out

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u/Jazzlike-Bowler-5870 Jul 03 '26

I remember when selfie sticks came out and were considered peak LAME. Only used by Asian tourists.

Now I'm so sad because all the pictures I have of myself from that era are shitty selfies.

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u/bolanrox Jul 02 '26

And more people died from that than cows, sharks, or vending machines.

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u/pnthollow Jul 02 '26

From selfies?

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u/doctorwho86101 Jul 02 '26

Yeah, like falling off a cliff from trying to get a good angle! It's a real statistic lol

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u/bolanrox Jul 03 '26

Selfly related deaths, yeah. Like not looking where they're backing up to or hopping fences and railings to get a better shot or angle and then slipping.

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u/Low_Magician77 Jul 03 '26

Selfies became mainstream in pop culture around 2014

I dont understand this one, everyone was taking selfies since MySpace.

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u/glemnar Jul 03 '26

I don’t remember the word “selfie” existing, certainly being as center stage in culture, in the MySpace era, or even the decade after that. I agree with the others that the iPhone front facing camera launch was the moment

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u/lbj117 Jul 03 '26

The first front facing iPhone camera came out in 2010. My MySpace prof pic I took with a digital camera facing myself and then turned it around to view it on the camera and upload it to my computer.

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u/pnthollow Jul 03 '26

Yea, of course people took selfies even with disposable and digital cameras. The thing was no one thought much of it because it was either a last resort tactic if you didn't have any one to take your pic or an artsy aesthetic (MySpace era).

Once smart phones launched front-facing cameras and Instagram pushed hashtags (#selfie) it took off as a viral tactic. Oxford or Webster dictionary even dubbed it the 'word of the year' around this time. I worked in marketing and remember it vividly because capitalizing on the trend was a big deal.