Why Ellen DeGeneres Ruined Selfies Forever

It was the selfie that launched thousands of copycat selfies and memes; the selfie that broke the internet, you might say. And it remains one of the most retweeted tweets of all time. It is, and will forever be, the selfie that ruined all other selfies. Yes, on this National Selfie Day, we are talking about Ellen DeGeneres' epic Oscar selfie. Here's why you will never see another selfie like it. Bradley Cooper's arm served as a selfie stick. You may have your flying selfie stick and your "4 in 1" remote-control selfie stick, but everyone knows that nothing can beat Cooper's arm.

It featured 12 of the world's most famous celebrities of all time. Even if the selfie only had Kevin Spacey, J Lawr, and Meryl Streep in the frame, that would still be enough star power to last a lifetime. The fact that it also had Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, and Julia Roberts is just too much to handle. #icingonthecake

It inspired memes with additional star power. Poor, poor, Leo.

And led to incredible re-creations from other pop culture legends.

As well as re-creations from people like you and I who just wanted in on the fun. Can you blame them?

So, if this selfie is filled with so much greatness, why did it ruin selfies forever? Up until this point, selfies were popular, yes — they had been growing in number and frequency since the Myspace mirror selfie days (never forget). "Selfie" had already been crowned the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year in 2013. But what this photo did was bring the selfie craze to a full-blown, mainstream level. This was peak selfie. Instead of a selfie being a pic one just took and posted on social media, it became something that we all talked about constantly. Are selfies acceptable? What makes a good selfie? Should you use a selfie stick? Is a group selfie called a groupie? (Answer: no, never.) Selfies became dangerous, as those with poor judgment tried to compete, however unintentionally, to capture the best, most epic selfies. We love Ellen DeGeneres, and we also love this famous selfie. But this photo took something innocent and pure, and turned it into one of the biggest social media publicity stunts of all time. And for that, it also lives in infamy. Happy National Selfie Day, and may DeGeneres' selfie forever rest in the diamond-lined graveyard of viral internet fame.