Sadly, we continue to morph into something grotesque.
63
What would a Martian, newly arrived on our planet, think, upon seeing an entity with one appendage longer than the other, ending in a lighted rectangular device darting around ?
6
I wonder…what’s going to happen when the selfie generation starts to age? How will these legions of social-media narcissists—who have brought self-worship to levels unthinkable in the past—deal with finding themselves “photographically challenged” at forty? How will they eke out a meaningful existence when the ravages of time takes away all that they’ve been taught to value?
Psychologists: start hunkering down now for an epidemic!
Psychologists: start hunkering down now for an epidemic!
39
As is often the case in newspaper journalism, the writer doesn't appreciate the exceptionally low level of association between the measures cited in this piece -- the personality related measures in focus in the study referenced (narcissism, etc), and the act of using online resources or posting selfies. In the Fox and Rooney study linked, the extent of predictability of frequency of selfie posting based on scores on the narcissism measure was only about 4%. In other words the vast majority of selfie-posting behavior was found to have nothing to do with narcissism (as the psychologists who believe in the existence of personality traits measure it). Other studies have found even lower levels of association. Newspaper contributors harm society when they promote conclusions based on second hand data that they misunderstand, as though they were reporting an established scientific consensus.
15
David Foster Wallace predicted exactly these kind of virtual telephone/video phone avatars this in Infinite Jest.
7
An occasional selfie, just like sharing a photo of oneself taken by others, can be a welcome way of saying "hello" to friends and family. Nothing wrong with that. But when taken to an extreme by bombarding others with selfies, one senses a pathetically driven, self-absorbed, insecure call for attention. Like someone who talks incessantly or loudly or wears wildly-colored hair.
16
So, are our comments on NYT articles the intellectual equivalent of wanting to be liked? Academic selfies, perhaps?? Are we all insecure with our ability to offer profound insights? Press "recommend" if you agree. Uh....
91
"...eyes glued to their ever-present screens, nearly everyone around you is taking photographs... Very few people experience the place they've traveled so far to see, without squeezing it (along with a reflection of themselves) into the tiny frame of some kind of camera..." :
www.marciejanbronstein.com/site-seeing.html
www.marciejanbronstein.com/site-seeing.html
13
I love these things! And I love folks who take selfies. They make it much, much easier to identify those people I wish to avoid because I'm sure to be disappointed by an abject lack of meaningful conversation, bored by their irretrievably egocentric view of the world and their related voting habits if any, and frustrated by my helpless inability to get them to like themselves for who they are.
33
What does the selfie stick tell us? That sometimes your phone's camera will get a nice wide-angle shot of you and the group of friends you're with when it's on the end of a stick. Not everyone has go-go-gadget extend-o arms. That's why I prefer one of the original names for the device that never caught on - a monopod. It's a shame that the narcissists' usage of the sticks have trumped everyone's conception of monopods - including those that might want to give one a try without fear of being judged as completely vain.
4
In other part of this addiction to self promotion is the confusion between having friends and having Facebook friends. It seems like it's common for people to have hundreds or thousands of online friends. I wonder how many real friends they have. What would all these people do if all the social media crashed for a week? Heavens, they might have to think for a change.
21
First time at the Louvre this past year, and people were six rows deep in front of the Mona Lisa.
70%, conservatively, were facing away from the painting, iPhones and selfie-sticks extended, so that they could get their faces "next" to hers.
I was raised Irish Catholic, and we have our take on this, which simply requires a person to extend their arm, deny any praise or accolades, and move the conversation on to someone else.
It's called the "I hate my selfie."
70%, conservatively, were facing away from the painting, iPhones and selfie-sticks extended, so that they could get their faces "next" to hers.
I was raised Irish Catholic, and we have our take on this, which simply requires a person to extend their arm, deny any praise or accolades, and move the conversation on to someone else.
It's called the "I hate my selfie."
16
The word was invented because no one would dare call these self-portraits. They seek neither to scrutinize, examine nor understand; rather, they simply say "Here I am." Not a great achievement and certainly no one anyone else need pay attention to.
35
Or maybe we are traveling by ourselves and don't want to hand our phone to a stranger so they can take our picture in front of something. I haven't found the selfie stick armed hordes of today to be any worse than the camera armed hordes of yesteryear. Maybe the collective outrage machine needs to take a break?
7
NYT commenters need to recognize that our version of posting a selfie for "likes" is posting a comment for "recommends" and maybe even, gasp, a NYT Pick yellow flag. We can just get away with our thing without showing our faces.
14
I'm not sure what to make of this, and I'm not even sure the author came to a conclusion as to "what selfie sticks really tell us about ourselves". In my view there are as many opinions on this as there are social media consumers. Here's mine:
I think over-posting of selfies is boring. An Instagram feed that is entirely made up of selfies does come off as narcissistic, and perhaps really is. I never follow these people because, come on, how many times do I need to see your face? On the other hand, an Instagram feed that never has a selfie seems to me like the curator is hiding behind the camera. It's interesting to see the person who's taking the photos I'm curious enough to look at every day. So once in a while it's nice to see who these people are. And no selfie stick is required.
I think over-posting of selfies is boring. An Instagram feed that is entirely made up of selfies does come off as narcissistic, and perhaps really is. I never follow these people because, come on, how many times do I need to see your face? On the other hand, an Instagram feed that never has a selfie seems to me like the curator is hiding behind the camera. It's interesting to see the person who's taking the photos I'm curious enough to look at every day. So once in a while it's nice to see who these people are. And no selfie stick is required.
3
I'm fascinated with the aging process that I am going through. So, like Rembrandt, who painted himself 80+ times, I take selfies, not for any validation, more for verification of what my 30's, 40's, 50's and now 60's look like. One cousin, who recently heard the word "selfie", said to me, "oh, you have been doing that for years".
1
so we got seflie policing now?! give me a break. selfies are fun and affordable, anyone can do it whether you're rich and famous or a faceless person in the crowd. if you hate it don't look but I'd bet you're looking
2
I grew up before the advent of selfies and social media but I did have a very beautiful, very image-conscious mother who instilled in me the idea that the world is always watching and judging. I in turn watched and judged from a very early age. On the one hand it made me a very observant person but in a more negative sense, it has been very difficult to establish my own sense of self. It is quite frankly debilitating to constantly need approval from an external source.
I am no longer on social media because I felt myself slipping into a pattern discussed in this article. Not the posting of selfies specifically but the constant self-editing, the sheer amount of time it would take to compose a simple status update, was absurd. I wanted to be funny and smart but didn't want to alienate anyone. It couldn't be too long. Too controversial. Too earnest. Too ironic. Instead of being myself I was once again falling into a pattern of being someone I thought others wanted me to be.
The paragraphs about conferring power hit the nail on the head. Selfie sticks "enhance the production value" of ourselves but thinking of oneself as being produced is a terrible burden in the long run.
I am no longer on social media because I felt myself slipping into a pattern discussed in this article. Not the posting of selfies specifically but the constant self-editing, the sheer amount of time it would take to compose a simple status update, was absurd. I wanted to be funny and smart but didn't want to alienate anyone. It couldn't be too long. Too controversial. Too earnest. Too ironic. Instead of being myself I was once again falling into a pattern of being someone I thought others wanted me to be.
The paragraphs about conferring power hit the nail on the head. Selfie sticks "enhance the production value" of ourselves but thinking of oneself as being produced is a terrible burden in the long run.
20
I'm wondering if I should start a collection of photos of myself with others in the background taking photos of themselves. Meta-selfie.
3
I could care either way if people want to use technology to document their lives BUT am leaving a comment with the hopes of receiving millions of thumbs up "Recommend" so i can validate my existence in a non narcissistic manner
3
This article interests me because I am in high school and am among many people who take selfies, including me. Not everyone I know is affected by the amount of likes they get or don't get. I can see how a selfie stick would be used by those people who care about the amount of likes they get to ensure that they look better in a picture. I don't think that they are dangerous. A friend of mine was not allowed to bring her selfie stick into a concert and all she wanted to do was take a picture of herself with her large group of friends. This article is really about what selfies tell us about ourselves, rather then selfie sticks.
1
Selfies are a harmless bit of fun. Although I don't use or want a selfie stick, I enjoy seeing pictures of my friends and posting photos of myself from time to time.
This article over thinks the issue a bit.
This article over thinks the issue a bit.
6
As a professional photographer, what I notice most about people who use selfie sticks is how little they pay attention to their surroundings. Photography forces me to notice and consider the rest of the world; an antidote for whatever narcissism I might have. I like that.
I just did an inventory, and between my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and professional website, there are about a dozen pictures of me, all on Facebook and all taken and posted by someone else.
I get to see my face every morning and evening when I brush my teeth. That's enough.
I just did an inventory, and between my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and professional website, there are about a dozen pictures of me, all on Facebook and all taken and posted by someone else.
I get to see my face every morning and evening when I brush my teeth. That's enough.
10
"I .. i me mine ... i me mine, i me mine, i me mine ..." George Harrison summed it up beautifully in 1970. It is the current mentality. The sad part, it does not lend towards true happiness.
3
I'm much too self-assured to go 'round taking self portraits and posting them on social media in order to get a bunch of "likes" so I can feel good about myself. I don't need that sort of life-confirming feedback. I don't need to know that my cry in the dark is by multitudes.
And I certainly don't care how many people might read this comment and press "Recommend". I won't even bother to return to this page to look. Really, I promise.
And I certainly don't care how many people might read this comment and press "Recommend". I won't even bother to return to this page to look. Really, I promise.
6
LIKING “LIKES” TOO MUCH
Those who use the social media
are very often sadly needier
of likes than those abstaining
from them, and start complaining
if people don’t keyboard “I like,”
not boarding Facebook like the bike
on which a guy once rode with Daisy.
It’s often not because they’re lazy,
but rather because they’re too selfish,
that they stay in their shells like shellfish,
feeling outside shells unsafe,
regarding words “I like” as trayf
as shellfish. It is not acedia
that makes unlikers leave the media
bereft of praise for what most post
in order to be liked the most.
They have a problem with the taste
of what’s been sent to them in haste,
or even thoughtfully, in leisure,
and if it does not give them pleasure
they are unwilling to respond
with likes of which we all are fond,
but may, in media that are social,
not get from those who’re antisocial,
when beaten with a narcistick
that maybe they had sent too quick.
[email protected]
Those who use the social media
are very often sadly needier
of likes than those abstaining
from them, and start complaining
if people don’t keyboard “I like,”
not boarding Facebook like the bike
on which a guy once rode with Daisy.
It’s often not because they’re lazy,
but rather because they’re too selfish,
that they stay in their shells like shellfish,
feeling outside shells unsafe,
regarding words “I like” as trayf
as shellfish. It is not acedia
that makes unlikers leave the media
bereft of praise for what most post
in order to be liked the most.
They have a problem with the taste
of what’s been sent to them in haste,
or even thoughtfully, in leisure,
and if it does not give them pleasure
they are unwilling to respond
with likes of which we all are fond,
but may, in media that are social,
not get from those who’re antisocial,
when beaten with a narcistick
that maybe they had sent too quick.
[email protected]
2
I call them "narcisticks".
5
I wish smart phone manufacturers would remove the camera feature from the devices and just leave in video capture. Every time someone pulls out their phone to show me a photo, I want to run away. People, it's as BORING as being invited over to watch slides of someone's vacation.
17
Selfie sticks tell us we have become narcissistic losers desperate for attention from anybody. I despise these things. My wife and I were recently in Venice and what was striking was how few people were actually enjoying the beauty of the place, but instead were just snapping away selfies to post on Facebook and show their friends what a cool vacation they are having. How about just enjoying somewhere for the sake of the experience, and not for Facebook or Twitter bragging rights?
83
What are you folks talking about? The selfie stick is just another piece of technology of use to the amateur photographer. Unless you are just not into photos of people or family events, why knock something that helps record a memory for the future and makes it possible to get everyone in the picture?
9
I am glad to read that they are being banned in more places. They are a scourge, in my opinion. I go to lovely places and museums to take in the beauty and culture they provide, not to insert myself (or observe others doing so) in their midst.
32
very interesting and indeed quite scary. thanks ! and the question is a bigger one: in this social media driven world, is there an obligation to exist in that space? is there a risk that this virtual space could replace the real world? what impact on teenagers who need to structure their identity? do we have to adapt or resist to this? it seems it would be useless to resist. let's just make sure we KEEP CALM AND STAY AWAKE
2
Two years ago my then girlfriend and I deleted our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Although hard at first, I can no longer imagine my life with social media. My friends are still my friends, we share updates with family via any other media (E-Mail, WhatsApp) and my then girlfriend is now my wife and we live in the moment every minute of every day.
61
Whatever happened to just asking a passerby or fellow tourist to take one's picture? The selfie stick isn't just about narcissism and image crafting. It's an indication that many of us would rather pay good money for an awkward tool that allows the user to avoid any potentially uncomfortable interaction with their environment. We're living in a time when the real prize of travel is not the experience itself, but the illusion of it.
64
Definition of a selfie:
Really bad snapshots of stupid looking people.
Really bad snapshots of stupid looking people.
4
I clicked on this article thinking, "what the heck is a 'selfie stick'?" Sounds like some kind of stick to beat oneself with.
6
Remember the business called 'Glamour Shots' where you went to have your photo taken with your hair, make up and clothing all "done"? I think that was a precursor to the 'selfie'. It's not something I need personally but I understand the drive and it's kind of like holding the door for someone to click 'like'. It a simple courtesy and costs me nothing.
3
...Or could it just be that those of us who travel solo want a way of preserving our vacation memories as much as those of you who travel with friends?
7
I'm an old guy. I once took a selfie. The result was frightening. No more selfies for me.
22
Change your ss number? I don't think so. If I'm wrong someone tell me how.
I'm getting sick of all this judgment. The fact is, I take good pictures of other people but my husband just doesn't take good pictures of me. And being an introvert I like to go some places alone. Skiing, biking. Things I would like to have a record of. Since I am so good at making records of other people doing these things, why should I be judged for wanting to get a few photos of myself too?
2
Thanks to selfies, from Wyoming I know where a Hollywood actress lives, the floor plan of her boyfriend's house, his address, where he works, who her hidden manager is, where he lives, who her closest friends are, their house floor plans. I know what car she drives. I know her income sources. I can tell where she is on a given day from the paint trim on house she's in front of...or the bedroom she's posing in. I described this surveillance a decade ago in EDGE OF HEAVEN.
2
we need research on why people take pictures of their meals and post them
11
While at the beach recently, I observed someone taking photos with a selfie stick, with their back to the ocean, get pummeled by a large overhead wave. I was privately wishing that the selfie stick would get sucked into the ocean but somehow the guy managed to hold on to it. Don't know if he got all of the sand and water out of the devices though. Sad, yet mildly entertaining, to watch.
32
Another sad commentary on our society... People can't ask another human being to take their picture.
3
People need to think about how all of these unnecessary, dare I say useless, gadgets contribute to landfill and harm the environment. There ought to be laws against producing all of this junk.
3
I watched a young person on a patio at a restaurant just snapping away selfies of herself as her friends spoke with each other - seemingly excluding her.
I guess she felt left out and just wanted to amuse herself.
Nothing more or less.
I'm getting to fogey territory - age 61 - and I have to chuckle at my reactions to kids at times. Like muttering an epithet as I drove by a shaggy-haired 16 year old in my neighborhood last week. Heck, that was me at age 16!
Lighten up me!
Older people are naturally annoyed by the young.
They're different, callow in many cases, odd looking and, hey, how dare they be so young and carefree, starting out in life when I'm working hard and staring mortality in the kisser!
Let 'em have their fad (including overuse of their phones), they'll see how boring and dopey it is soon enough.
Partly thanks to articles like this.
Till then, just make a shrill hissing sound in their direction when they selfie themselves to quash the behavior.
It always worked for my cat when I got too rowdy with her.
I guess she felt left out and just wanted to amuse herself.
Nothing more or less.
I'm getting to fogey territory - age 61 - and I have to chuckle at my reactions to kids at times. Like muttering an epithet as I drove by a shaggy-haired 16 year old in my neighborhood last week. Heck, that was me at age 16!
Lighten up me!
Older people are naturally annoyed by the young.
They're different, callow in many cases, odd looking and, hey, how dare they be so young and carefree, starting out in life when I'm working hard and staring mortality in the kisser!
Let 'em have their fad (including overuse of their phones), they'll see how boring and dopey it is soon enough.
Partly thanks to articles like this.
Till then, just make a shrill hissing sound in their direction when they selfie themselves to quash the behavior.
It always worked for my cat when I got too rowdy with her.
10
Re: " [the] " compulsion to document their actions even if doing so diminishes their experience and engagement in the real world" is perhaps the most troubling aspect of the selfie mania. Always being "on," LOOKED AT rather than LOOKING.
There are so many ways to preserve lived experiences. People used to make scrap books as a way to share and remember. These were tangible objects filled with lots of stuff -- dance cards, ticket stubs, letters, love notes, pressed flowers, locks of hair, you name it. Many exist today, including a lovely one my husband has that documents his parents' love story. People kept letters, clippings, postcards, report cards--- too much stuff to name --- in shoe boxes, folders, hidden inside picture frames -- in too many places to name.
All this wonderful stuff created a textured and rich context for memories that are more than selfies. They go beyond LOOK AT ME to KNOW ME.
There are so many ways to preserve lived experiences. People used to make scrap books as a way to share and remember. These were tangible objects filled with lots of stuff -- dance cards, ticket stubs, letters, love notes, pressed flowers, locks of hair, you name it. Many exist today, including a lovely one my husband has that documents his parents' love story. People kept letters, clippings, postcards, report cards--- too much stuff to name --- in shoe boxes, folders, hidden inside picture frames -- in too many places to name.
All this wonderful stuff created a textured and rich context for memories that are more than selfies. They go beyond LOOK AT ME to KNOW ME.
4
This is SO true, and I love the coinage "narcistick." What do you make of the associated "photo bombers," who intrude into someone else's shot? Are they more of the same or an exaggeration of the selfie-addict's personality traits (or disorders)?
I'd sooner die than tote (and use) a selfie stick. But then, I'm old and soon to be discarded by the onrushing mob of deeply reflective, service-oriented, painstakingly detail-oriented selfie-takers now flooding our public places -- sort of like sewage backing up from a storm drain. It's stinky, intrusive, and very hard to stop.
I'd sooner die than tote (and use) a selfie stick. But then, I'm old and soon to be discarded by the onrushing mob of deeply reflective, service-oriented, painstakingly detail-oriented selfie-takers now flooding our public places -- sort of like sewage backing up from a storm drain. It's stinky, intrusive, and very hard to stop.
22
Selfies, like funerals are for survivors. I would love to have more pictures of my deceased father. Selfies of him as a teenager in 1940s Chelsea, NYC would have been interesting to see or share with my son. My favorite pictures of him "mugging for the camera" are his boxing poses from his time serving in Japan in '45. I can't help but wonder if professionals who speculate on the behavioral peculiarities of those who take selfies ever had any fun.
6
The Chinese NSA is going to hack into our naked selfies and post them on our facebook page, man, and they've got the navy to do it, too! Somebody get Nicki Minaj on skype. She's our first line of defese.
1
Love that this is labeled "News Analysis".
Never fear, I have the answer: when you see someone launch into selfie-stick mode, grab the phone off their stick!
Never fear, I have the answer: when you see someone launch into selfie-stick mode, grab the phone off their stick!
1
People who take excessive selfies require selfie helpie.
13
In the future, historians will see selfies as indicia that these are odd times. We collectively have an inchoate, immature relationship between the private self, the public self and society.
Among the most tasteless uses of selfies by young people are the obsession with taking them in museums instead of meditating on well-composed works of art, and the inveterate publication of photographs of food that they are about to consume.
"Look at me."
Among the most tasteless uses of selfies by young people are the obsession with taking them in museums instead of meditating on well-composed works of art, and the inveterate publication of photographs of food that they are about to consume.
"Look at me."
5
I know many people who take photos of themselves for their business - a behind the scenes. People like to see the person behind the scenes and they do get the most hits. It's free advertising.
No one has to look if they don't want to, but seems millions do. So maybe selfie's say more about our voyeuristic society than the person who does the posting. Or that the person is taking control of their image rather than letting the paparazzi or a nosy-parker poster or eaves dropper offer them up on a platter for a vulture fest for their own wish to be recognized and popular as instigator of the 'viral'.
It's more complicated than just pure narcissism. And again you do not have to look.
No one has to look if they don't want to, but seems millions do. So maybe selfie's say more about our voyeuristic society than the person who does the posting. Or that the person is taking control of their image rather than letting the paparazzi or a nosy-parker poster or eaves dropper offer them up on a platter for a vulture fest for their own wish to be recognized and popular as instigator of the 'viral'.
It's more complicated than just pure narcissism. And again you do not have to look.
1
I've been reading Marin Heidegger's philosophical work, Being and Time, in some ways the foundational text for existentialism. More importantly, he outlines how the inner subjective self is not a real thing, there is no sentient, inner, individual self as in Descartes or Kant. A person exists and has selfhood only in a situation of being in a totality of a cultural context. Existing in a referential totality specific to phenomena and their place and moment in the world. Being female or male for example designates a rigid state, but being masculine or feminine implies a complex set of cultural references and structures. I think the social media platforms and selfie behavior can be understood as such.
No matter where I go in the city, there are people taking selfies, whether it by the blossoming cherry trees in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the crowded hall of the Chelsea Market or just a busy intersection. They always expect me to wait until they finish taking there photo. I recently was at the World Trade Center memorial, where a woman was intent on taking a selfie. I purposely stood in her way partially because I didn't feel I should be the one to move so she could get a photo of herself, but also because it seemed like such an inappropriate place to take a picture of oneself, the site where 3,000 people died. It seems like increasingly people don't want to actually see a place but just want to show people that they were there. They expect that everyone else should stop so as not to get into the frame of their latest ode to themselves. I've stopped accommodating them. I walk right through the frame. Let them be the ones to wait.
58
The selfie schtick sounds like something that stopped playing in the Catskills a millennial ago.
1
Just try walking through the Grand Central Station terminal anytime. Tourists with selfie sticks are everywhere. They look ridiculous.
6
At the core of narcissism is a longing to be seen, loved, & connected. As Dr. Harry Harlow said, "A lone monkey is a dead monkey" (Lorna Benjamin, personal communication, 2010) And we humans animals can only thrive with love!
The selfie stick is a natural outgrowth of getting trophies for showing up and being congratulated for a "good try" throughout your early years. Not surprising that the product of the selfie stick is a shock for some. They don't want to hear "good try" when it comes to how they look. If only so many resources were devoted to interior considerations.
2
No wonder we can't solve any of the world's complex problems. We're all too busy taking pathetic "pics" of ourselves. Selfies reveal how shallow, self-absorbed, and ultimately empty our existence has become.
9
Gosh, I got a selfie stick so I could have pictures of myself with my husband and daughter -- my absence in the photo books I put together for the grandparents at the end of the year was pretty conspicuous, and I just wanted family pictures. I thought the gadget was kind of ingenious for that purpose.
13
Sometimes a camera monopod (a/k/a selfie stick) is a camera monopod and has no other deeper Freudian meaning.
Agreed with the writer on all accounts. Creepiest sociological evolution to come from the selfie stick is how "selfies" feel put off, even defensive, when one asks them if they'd like their picture taken by (you know) another human being. There is a disconcerting alienation with others that selfies and Millennials in particular feel just fine with.
4
I am currently on vacation in St. Petersburg, Russia, and I can assure you that selfie sticks are not banned. I spent today in and around the Hermitage Museum and there were HUNDREDS of couples and single folks using their sticks. I suspect that they have no idea that they were in one of the most beautiful museums in the world. All they seemed to care about was looking beautiful, which very few of them did!
10
What a commentary about the state of human societies. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. The modern Nero figure takes selfies while his/her job is outsourced and his/her economic life disintegrates
4
The reality is that most people look average or worse, so don't bother taking a 'selfie'. But, there is something you can do with that stick...
2
I find it sad that this is what young people spend so much of their time doing. Not a productive use of time.
1
The article reminded me of a trip I took 20 years ago to Kenya to see the great migration. I spent most of the trip looking through a VHS video camera lens ( which showed in black and white ) at the wonderful animals and nature that I would probably never get to see again. The video turned out ok and I have since lost it. Lost as well was the chance to see these scenes in color in person instead of from behind a framed camera lens. The excitement of the "production" of my trip on video seemed exciting at the time - but I know wish I had stepped back and just experienced the moment.
52
This summer I saw people at Niagara Falls with selfie sticks, their backs to the view, looking at themselves instead of at the wonder of nature that they had presumably come to see. This can't be good.
8
I can't help wondering, why did Disneyland ban xylophones?
49
It is ironic that people claim to be so concerned about their privacy only to reveal everything about themselves and their thoughts on the internet.
8
Kim Kardashian's selfies get 800K likes. That says enough.
2
And what does over-analyzing tell us about ourselves? That we need to give employment to needy writers and researches on anything and everything under the sun?
2
Selfie sticks are part of a whole pathology of self-importance, including the belief that the owner can't be separated from their phone for even 10 minutes, never mind a couple of hours.
6
I honestly believe social media outlets should also have an anonymous dislike button in hopes of putting an end to these narsacisstic selfie posters .
4
narcissism first ? - I liked Oprah's story on a final David Letterman Late Show - on crowded Selma bridge a woman called across the pressing crowd 'Oprah - can I get a selfie with you !?' - Oprah was willing but the crush prevented them getting closer - Oprah finally called out 'can you just take a photo of me ?' - the woman promptly huffed/sniffed 'I don'wan a photo of YOU ... !'
16
I don't know anyone who has a selfie stick. What does the newpaper's fixation on selfie sticks and melenials tall us about the New York Times?
1
…"After all, a text is only 160 characters but a picture is worth a thousand words."
Actually, texts can be any length…tweets are 160 characters.
But really, a picture is worth a thousand words? How insightful. Not up to the NYTimes level of writing - or at least what the NYTimes used to be.
Actually, texts can be any length…tweets are 160 characters.
But really, a picture is worth a thousand words? How insightful. Not up to the NYTimes level of writing - or at least what the NYTimes used to be.
1
I was unaware of the existence of this device until fairly recently. Upon learning that such a thing was "a thing," I was horrified. We really have reached a new low as a species. That we could be so enamored by appliances and our own faces[/making faces] is just a huge disappointment. Whatever happened to enjoying the silence, sitting with our thoughts, valuing alone time, and not being dependent on the approval of the masses to be at ease with ourselves? Maybe we never had those things, but they are worth striving for. I don't recognize this world anymore, and I'm not even 40 years old yet ...
13
To the extent that people are being judged for being self-involved, I disagree with anti-selfie rules. But I wish the people who take photographs would think about others more.
Here in the city, sidewalks are almost like roads. You wouldn't just stop your car in the middle of a road. But people stop on sidewalks all the time, often to take pictures.
The High Line is well loved, but it's also narrow and crowded and often difficult to navigate. After the end of a work day, go to the top, at 34th St, and try to walk all the way down to the Whitney. There are so many people taking photos that the route is almost impassible. People stand on either side of the path, slowly composing the frame, and if you walk into the shot, you're a jerk. So you can either just plow through, or stop, over and over again, while people take what must be really uninteresting photos.
If people wanted to take photos of one another in their homes or hotel rooms, no one would have a problem with it. If they wanted to take photos of one another in the Sheep Meadow or in the middle of Floyd Bennett Field, no one would care. The problem isn't with the photos, it's about blocking the way when someone else trying to walk down the sidewalk.
Here in the city, sidewalks are almost like roads. You wouldn't just stop your car in the middle of a road. But people stop on sidewalks all the time, often to take pictures.
The High Line is well loved, but it's also narrow and crowded and often difficult to navigate. After the end of a work day, go to the top, at 34th St, and try to walk all the way down to the Whitney. There are so many people taking photos that the route is almost impassible. People stand on either side of the path, slowly composing the frame, and if you walk into the shot, you're a jerk. So you can either just plow through, or stop, over and over again, while people take what must be really uninteresting photos.
If people wanted to take photos of one another in their homes or hotel rooms, no one would have a problem with it. If they wanted to take photos of one another in the Sheep Meadow or in the middle of Floyd Bennett Field, no one would care. The problem isn't with the photos, it's about blocking the way when someone else trying to walk down the sidewalk.
4
"This cream costs me $300 per ounce ... and I still don't look 19." (Brian Kinney, "Queer as Folk")
As for me, I am from the "Me-I-Me" generation. 1 out of 2 marriages, including mine, ended in divorce. I suppose we were the First-Selfies. Or should that be just SELFISH?
As for me, I am from the "Me-I-Me" generation. 1 out of 2 marriages, including mine, ended in divorce. I suppose we were the First-Selfies. Or should that be just SELFISH?
1
No instagram. No face plant account. No selfie stick. No twitter. No selfies.
I like my life just fine.
I like my life just fine.
34
It's not a text that has a limit of 160 characters. That would be a tweet. But the distinction is germane. Texts are person-to-person communication and there is no fishing for "likes". The tweet is person-to-world communication, and aside from journalistic feeds, the tweet amounts to a desperate cry to anonymous humanity for approval and validation.
2
In the physical world, the person who takes and posts selfies of EVERY cool event, trip, and encounter would be someone who shows up at your home with a shoebox of photos to brag about their good fortune. Just another example of how people behave one way on the net but would consider the same behavior presumptuous or rude to do in person.
2
What does the selfie stick tell us? That people are bored and easily manipulated.
3
Everyone nowadays uses Selfie Stick Pro in taking selfie's so please don't banned selfie stick.
1
Selfies are a product of our self centered " me,me,me" spoiled society. It's high time these immature dolts took notice of others in their midst and tried connecting with them-life isn't all about the massive insecurities and overblown vanity of the selfie taker.
3
Interesting analysis. Let's run this through the Polit-o-meter, and see if Democrats take more selfies than Republicans, or vice versa.
One hopes that the 'selfie' taking craze will go the way of the hula-hoop. at least this one does.
3
Wow…just wow!
Methinks this selfie-creating frenzy and the concomitant need for external "likes" stems from a lack of something even more important: an internal love for one's self.
When I hit 40 or so, it was so cathartic to realize that —yes indeed—I was goofy looking. Then—and only then—was I free to simply carry on living my life.
News flash folks, if you define yourself by how everyone else sees you, you will never realize that you are intrinsically miraculous.
As a very wise woman called Jo Willard used to say on her radio program out of WPKN at the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut), "love yourself, you are very beautiful." (Just a hunch here, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't talking about selfie beautiful).
Allen Berrien
Methinks this selfie-creating frenzy and the concomitant need for external "likes" stems from a lack of something even more important: an internal love for one's self.
When I hit 40 or so, it was so cathartic to realize that —yes indeed—I was goofy looking. Then—and only then—was I free to simply carry on living my life.
News flash folks, if you define yourself by how everyone else sees you, you will never realize that you are intrinsically miraculous.
As a very wise woman called Jo Willard used to say on her radio program out of WPKN at the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut), "love yourself, you are very beautiful." (Just a hunch here, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't talking about selfie beautiful).
Allen Berrien
1
What is worse than selfie? Doing "scientific" research on those who carry yardsticks of ego.
They are too cheap to use a real photographer. Get rid of the selfie and camera phone you are hurting those who are trying making a living as a photographer.
1
It doesn't tell us anything about ourselves. People have been admiring themselves since they found something to reflect it. We are a vain and socially anxious species.
2
If that's what people want to do with their lives, so be it. But when I get these pictures I just delete them, basically because it doesn't interest me. I'd rather read a good article then look at someone's face, but each to their own. They have different needs than I do. Those faces unfortunately for them makes me care for them less. It's boring for those who have real lives.
2
I'll submit it's also about laziness - declining to do the additional work that goes into thinking nonsuperficially about, say, the items in the art gallery, the lyrics and music at the concert, the issues underlying the 9/11 memorial.
1
Guess we can bid a fond farewell to the old adage, "fools names like fools faces always appear in public places."
1
If Descartes was alive today he'd have to change his thinking to "I take selfies therefore I am."
38
Living in a tourist destination, I wondered what those things are. The people I see using them are mostly groups of young Japanese people happily chattering amongst themselves, those things protruding from their group like the hairs on a caterpillar, and dour older white American men with a particularly serious look on their face waving them around.
2
I feel sorry for anyone who "need(s) to get ‘likes’ to get validation.”
73
I feel more sorry for people who are compelled to post photos online, period.
2
Hear hear! People should stick to needing to get "recommends" on their NYTimes comments for validation.
4
Egoectomies are in order
To cure the selfie disorder,,
Systemic, problemic,
Totally totemic,
A need of the ego hoarder.
To cure the selfie disorder,,
Systemic, problemic,
Totally totemic,
A need of the ego hoarder.
65
1) If one is over a certain age, a selfie looks awful - I doubt a stick would help that much
2) Social media is tailor made for narcissists. So many post continual updates of the minutia of their day-to-day lives and seem certain that all their "friends" care that they are sitting at IHOP waiting for their order or are having a class of Riesling with their spouse.
3) When I travel, for the few pictures of myself that I have taken, I ask others to actually take it. I have met some interesting people and had some nice conversations that way. Some of those strangers have gotten really good pictures of me - far better than I could ever take of myself.
2) Social media is tailor made for narcissists. So many post continual updates of the minutia of their day-to-day lives and seem certain that all their "friends" care that they are sitting at IHOP waiting for their order or are having a class of Riesling with their spouse.
3) When I travel, for the few pictures of myself that I have taken, I ask others to actually take it. I have met some interesting people and had some nice conversations that way. Some of those strangers have gotten really good pictures of me - far better than I could ever take of myself.
121
3) Yeah, what a great idea. Askin' someone to take a photo of you, family, friends and actually engage socially instead of disengaging from where one is at and having ones main activity be to post somethin' on "social" media to validate one's life.
Your way seems more fun.
Your way seems more fun.
3
I suppose by your definition every photograph of someone who is over a certain age must be awful, because a selfie is but just another photograph. And no, a stick does help, just the same way it helps when that "interesting" person that you asked to take your photograph is standing 5 ft away from you as opposed to 1 ft.
And may be you are the type that is perfectly comfortable asking strangers to take your pictures but there are plenty of us that do not do so either because we are shy or because we simply don't want to impose this chore on someone else's precious time that is theirs, and theirs alone, to enjoy as they want. Nevertheless we are still people who like documenting our travels.
Just like you, this article seems to predominantly paint selfie-takers with one broad, narrow-minded brush when the truth is that there are several of us - especially now with solo travel on the rise - that do it for our own selves, to reminisce about our (hopefully) well-lived, well-traveled lives someday in the future, not because we are a bunch of narcissistic ego-maniacs whose self-esteem depends on the posting & liking of our selfies in the social media.
At the end of the day, I don't see any impropriety in taking a selfie (w/ or w/o a stick), or for that matter, in sharing it with others, as long as it is done in moderation, and more importantly when it's done without losing sight of what is truly worth admiring in that selfie (hint: it's usually in the background)!
And may be you are the type that is perfectly comfortable asking strangers to take your pictures but there are plenty of us that do not do so either because we are shy or because we simply don't want to impose this chore on someone else's precious time that is theirs, and theirs alone, to enjoy as they want. Nevertheless we are still people who like documenting our travels.
Just like you, this article seems to predominantly paint selfie-takers with one broad, narrow-minded brush when the truth is that there are several of us - especially now with solo travel on the rise - that do it for our own selves, to reminisce about our (hopefully) well-lived, well-traveled lives someday in the future, not because we are a bunch of narcissistic ego-maniacs whose self-esteem depends on the posting & liking of our selfies in the social media.
At the end of the day, I don't see any impropriety in taking a selfie (w/ or w/o a stick), or for that matter, in sharing it with others, as long as it is done in moderation, and more importantly when it's done without losing sight of what is truly worth admiring in that selfie (hint: it's usually in the background)!
In a world where individuals feel increasingly insignificant and powerless to affect real change in the existing paradigm, the rise of the "selfie" is better than the rise of people violently acting out frustration and anger in movie theaters, crowded market squares, and religious edifices.
Is it really narcissism to want to say, "look at me, I'm alive!" surrounded by friends, family, a badly-needed vacation, or the closest thing to a 'celebrity' who gets paid for promoting their "selfie" everyday?
It's a tiny piece of immortality, which no one can begrudge.
Is it really narcissism to want to say, "look at me, I'm alive!" surrounded by friends, family, a badly-needed vacation, or the closest thing to a 'celebrity' who gets paid for promoting their "selfie" everyday?
It's a tiny piece of immortality, which no one can begrudge.
51
Yes, it is narcissism. By definition.
Once you realize you are an insignificant, temporary gathering of molecules in this universe, you no longer need to cling to foolishnesses like social media or religion.
It's called maturity, too.
Once you realize you are an insignificant, temporary gathering of molecules in this universe, you no longer need to cling to foolishnesses like social media or religion.
It's called maturity, too.
2
You might be surprised how easy it is to begrudge!
1
I assume you take a great number of selfies??
And in answer to your question: yes.
And in answer to your question: yes.
2
I don't do selfies, my timeline is private to my Facebook friends, and most of what I post are links to articles I thought were important.
Oddly, when my friends ignore things I thought were important, I don't wonder about me, I wonder about THEM!
Does that say something about me?
Oddly, when my friends ignore things I thought were important, I don't wonder about me, I wonder about THEM!
Does that say something about me?
110
I do the same and no pics of my family !so that means we are probably in need os psychological help- haha ! I think we are introverts in a world of extroverts - and I like it that way -thanks you
What does the selfie stick tell us? That anyone who uses it has no taste.
And no dignity, either.
And no dignity, either.
178
We referred to these types in high school in the 60's as dorks.
1