How To: Take the Perfect Selfie, Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year

Ladies and gentleman, it's official—"Selfie" has been named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries.

According to Oxford researchers, the use of the word increased 17,000 percent compared to this time last year. This can be attributed to social media sites like Twitter and Instagram, which made the selfie a phenomenon, even to the point of selfie Halloween costumes.

How to Take the Perfect Selfie

So, now that the word has attained its rightful place in history, you might want to know how to take the perfect selfie yourself, and really, it's all about getting the right angles and having proper lighting.

Famous YouTube makeup artist, Michelle Phan, was thoughtful enough to make a guide for all of us less-than-capable selfie-shooters (which includes myself), so we can do the Word of the Year justice.

How to Take Better Selfies with No Hands

If you're like me and find holding the camera out a little awkward, you'll want to check out how to take an awesome selfie with no hands (on the camera that is). This mod is only for Android devices, and incorporates a self-timer into Instagram, Vine, etc.

How to Take Better Selfies with a Selfie-Dedicated App

Tired of Instragram, Vine, and those other apps? Try using an app built solely for selfies, like Face2Gif (for Android). You can also add cool text messages and create your own GIFs, as well.

It should be mentioned that the word selife has not been included in the official Oxford English Dictionary, but is under consideration for possible inclusion, with its definition below.

Selfie: a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website