The Chainsmokers, composed of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, had noticed how the word selfie had become a trend and they wanted to take advantage of it.

A music video for the song was also released and features actual selfies from Steve Aoki, founder of Dim Mak, Snoop Dogg, David Hasselhoff, Tyler Breeze, A-Trak, The Knocks, and Ian Somerhalder among others.

[3] Oliver Luckett, CEO of social media marketing firm TheAudience, said that the song is "so on point – it's shit-white-girls-say-meets-a-club-remix".

TheAudience introduced the Chainsmokers to Aoki, helped create the "#Selfie" video and released it on January 29, 2014, on YouTube, utilizing the network of celebrities to promote it.

[3][8] The song details a narcissistic young woman at a club, presumably speaking to friends, as she is concerned about taking selfies and uploading them to her Instagram account, while she criticizes other people at the club, including their outfits, in addition to dealing with a guy named Jason with whom she has a love/hate relationship.

[9] The lyrics make several cultural references, including to Instagram and the Cedric Gervais remix of Lana Del Rey's song, "Summertime Sadness".

The Chainsmokers explained that one of their initial intentions with "#Selfie" was to re-create the viral impact that "Harlem Shake" had, with the general public taking the song and maybe including their own interpretations along with the beat.

[10][11][12] "#Selfie" debuted on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart at number 19, with first week sales of 9,000 digital downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan.