i just don't get how it's a new thing (well, as in the last couple of years)..people were doing it on myspace in 2005

Probably because despite MySpace's popularity it was still mainly for scene kids and other assorted 'outcasts' from the 'mainstream' so anything that was popular on there was by default not popular in the mainstream - but with the advent of Facebook and how popular it's become, I guess all that stuff would have merged with lots of different people and that's how selfies have become so popular