You might have noticed something unusual today as you tried to access you Gmail account, the first thing one was asked to do was to take a “shelfie” of himself or herself by following some steps. Most people I bet thought it was one of the many pranks being pulled today, it being April Fools Day.
Apparently, Google is today marking ten years and as a way to say thank you to its users they have introduced “shelfies” (SHareable sELFIES).
According to a post on Gmail’s blog by Greg Bullock, Software Engineer, Gmail, “You all love setting selfies as your custom theme in Gmail, but you’ve told us there’s one major problem: there isn’t a way to share your selfie with others. As the pioneering platform for selfies, Gmail is committed to being at the forefront of innovation in the selfie space. And we think it’s a tragedy that your handsome hair, luscious lashes and beautiful brows have been trapped in your own inbox. Until now, that is. Today, we’re proud to free your selfies by launching Gmail Shelfie, the SHareable sELFIE.”
Gmail Shelfie is built on the idea that you shouldn’t be selfish with your selfie. With just a few clicks, people can set your Shelfie as their Gmail theme so they can enjoy checking, reading, and writing emails while seeing your face in the background.
There are ust a few steps to take to take to upgrade your selfie to a shelfie. Open or refresh Gmail on the desktop and take a selfie and share it with your friends. If you’re looking for inspiration, set your theme to Gmail’s top trending Shelfies. You can also see who’s currently trending on our Google+ page.
The word selfie became a common name in 2012 when internet users started customizing their themes and in 2013 the term quickly spread beyond email themes and Oxford Dictionaries named it Word of the Year in 2013.
(SOURCE:GMAIL BLOG)
