Clicking a photograph of yourself along with a group is called ‘usie’ and it’s fast gaining popularity

After selfie became the word of the year in 2013, we now have a new avatar of the word — the ‘usie’. While it’s difficult to keep up with all the new words being coined — it was the ‘braggie’ a few weeks back — the ‘usie’ should be easier to remember as it’s basically someone taking a photo of themselves with a group.

If you think that it all started at the recent Oscars, with the famous ‘usie’ of Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper and others, we would like to point out that none other than Pope Francis posed for one such ‘usie’ last December.

The ‘usie’ is making inroads into Hyderabad too. Shalini Kondepudi, who works at an advertising agency in the city, says, “The nice thing about an ‘usie’ is that you don’t have to depend on other people to click your group photo. You can do it yourself. It’s like a selfie, but with a wider meaning of the self,” she laughs.

What differentiates the ‘usie’ from the selfie is that the former incorporates everyone in the group and no one feels left out. Swapna Kucherlacati, a concert promoter from the city, says,

“It’s a fun way to accommodate everyone in the group. I’d say we love ‘usies’ because four is better than one. One person in the shot is still taking the photo so none of us are missing out on any of the fun. We had taken a ‘usie’ when we had gone to Goa. It was a cool idea, though we used a GoPro and GoPole (a telescopic extension pole for GoPro cameras). The outcome was awesome.”

Another point that the Oscar usie brought up was how it can also be a great way to show off your wide network, Ankit Mishra, who is working on a startup accepts that it is a nice way to subtly show off your network.

“If one is at a formal gathering, they don’t usually go around taking out their phone and posing for a ‘usie’ but if they do, it does show how close they are to the group of people.”
So is there a correct angle to click a ‘usie’?

“No! That’s the best thing about it. No rules, no proper angle, just click what you want,” says PG student Shariqua Syed.