Oxford Dictionaries releases its new word of the year around this time (last year it was verb usage of “gif”) and the “word of 2013″ has been announced. Selfie (a term still new enough that I battle with auto-corrected every time I type it) is now officially defined by Oxford Dictionary as: “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.” While linguistics scholars may lament, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig (who, along with Sufjan Stevens, is one of the most linguistically informed indie rock stars) is celebrating. As he told Rolling Stone in a recent interview he’s a big fan of people posting selfies, and explains his feelings in a surprisingly earnest way:

“I’m definitely pro-selfie, I think that anybody who’s anti-selfie is really just a hater. Because, truthfully, why shouldn’t people take pictures of themselves? When I’m on Instagram and I see that somebody took a picture of themselves, I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ I don’t need to see a picture of the sky, the trees, plants. There’s only one you.

…

There’s all this bullshit about ‘the younger kids today are more self-absorbed.’ It’s like, give me a fucking break! I’ve been in nursing homes, where my grandma is. I’ve seen some of the most selfish people on the planet in there. And the world that these kids are born into literally could not get more selfish. The world is so fucked-up and unequal and full of assholes. You can’t blame it on the younger generation.”

(via Rolling Stone)

Koenig’s not just fronting either, check out his countless selfies here, and above see him pulling off the extremely difficult “Holy Trinity” selfie, which is definitely not recommended for novices.