What's a selfie?
Is it just a self-portrait?
Self portraits have been around for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years.
The word "selfie" is new in terms of language.
It arose when it became viable to hold the camera, directly or on a device such as a selfie stick, and take a usable self portrait. Such photos are quite different from the traditional self portrait taken with a mirror or a timer. They have an immediacy and informality which makes them a specific art form.
It is a useful word which conveys a specific type of photograph.
So let's use the word for that type of photography, and not dilute it by amalgamating it with the traditional self-portrait.