I used to think this, and I only took photos of places (without me in them). Then I realised that the value of the photo is to remind me of what I was doing, how I was feeling, etc, not just that I was in the place. I agree that faking smiles makes the photo worth less, but just don't fake anything.
I am not against taking selfies in the literal sense. Go ahead and take a snap of you and your surrounding. It becomes sad and depressing when someone needs to do multiple takes and even worse, touch up the image.
