Study Looks At What Selfies People Share The Most

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An academic study categorized 2.5 million selfie posts on Instagram to figure out what people post about most, and the answer was overwhelming: How do I look?

Nearly 52 percent of all selfies fell into the "appearance" category showing pictures of people showing off their make-up, cloths, lips or other personal feature. Selfies about looks were two times more popular than the other 14 categories combined.

The Georgia Institute of Technology researchers noted that the prevalence of ethnicity selfies -- selfies about a person's ethnicity, nationality or country of origin -- is an indication that people are proud of their backgrounds.

"Selfies, in a sense, are the blending of our online and offline selves," said Julia Deeb-Swihart, Lead author of the study. "It's a way to prove what is true in your life, or at least what you want people to believe is true."

They also found that most selfies are solo pictures, rather than taken with a group.

"Just like on other social media channels, people project an identity that promotes their wealth, health and physical attractiveness," "With selfies, we decide how to present ourselves to the audience, and the audience decides how it perceives you."