Support The Moscow Times!

Putin Gets Into the 'Selfie' Game

Putin having a selfie taken at the weekend. Koffboy / Twitter

Though he may lack the Twitter following of his tech-obsessed Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin was social media star over the weekend, as a "selfie" photo of the president and a young boy made the rounds on the Internet.

The picture of an unidentified boy and Putin was published on multiple Twitter accounts on Saturday, though the circumstances behind the photo remain unclear.

Pictures taken of oneself from a cell phone, known as "selfies," have enjoyed a massive uptick in legitimacy in recent months, as Oxford English Dictionaries announced that the slang was Word of the Year for 2013.

Though some may see Putin's photo as making him more relatable to Moscow's iPhone-toting creative class, the president should be aware that the process of selfie-taking is fraught with political danger. U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were lambasted in the press after being caught squeezing together for a photo with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more