Gen Z takes selfies with the higher quality back-facing camera using 0.5x zoom. You can't see yourself while taking the photo, but that's part of the appeal.

A lot of older cameras (and early phones too) would have a small mirror next to the lens, specifically for taking photos like that. The word selfie is kind of recent. The concept of taking a photo of yourself is probably as old as the invention of the camera.

I remember taking such pictures in the '90s and and calling them "autofoto" and I thought I was very clever.

I remember watching a podcast at the time where they were making fun of the word selfie for being an absurd unnecessary word. I remember vehemently agreeing.

In hindsight I don't know wth I was thinking.

Do you guys remember the mid-2000s “MySpace Angle” ? Usually shot in the bathroom.

I'm from the generation where that was the only option (and I still wasn't a kid then). I kind of liked the mystery, but overall I still prefer the front camera for selfies nowadays.