Selfies. We take them everywhere and at all times. We retweet them more than any other tweets. We use them to draw rightward Tinder swipes with cleavage-y angles. The worst of us men remove our shirts and use them to play optical ping-pong with our mirrors. God forbid our sit-ups be done in vain. James Franco, in the 8 hours he works while the rest of us have to sleep, made them a performance art. If TIME Magazine had to pick a Person of the Year now, the odds-on favorite would be you (again) through a smartphone camera lens.
We’ve reached "Peak Selfie." We share experiences, alluring poses, and even lice this way. One of my favorite bands, The Chainsmokers, even has a hit single out that pokes fun at this. It's called, of course, "#Selfie."
I think it’s telling that we’ve chosen en masse to snap these self-regarding pictures. I think selfies are a symptom of societal breakdown.
I do my fair share of Old Person Whining. So, I won’t go on long. But, think about this: why aren’t we just asking a nearby stranger to snap the photo of us and our friends? Is it really that awkward to ask? Have we become such prisoners of awkwardness that we cannot look a stranger in the eyes, smile, and politely ask of them a shutter shot? Why have we chosen to use the terrible-quality facing camera of our smartphone over a far superior quality picture taken by a third party several feet away?
Maybe this is nothing. But, I don’t think so. I think it’s part of the singularity phenomenon caused by our relationship with mobile personal technology. We put our headphones in and isolate our sense of sound from interaction with the real world. We hold our phones and tablets in the prayer position to cut off sight from the outside world. We become alone, together. [Insert Her reference here]
We already have an agreed to use of mobile tech to avoid awkwardness: the look-at-our-phones-in-an-uncomfortable-public-setting move. Elevators? Who even talks to fellow elevator-riders anymore? Parties with nobody you really know? Who has the courage to join a group conversation and meet new people? Me? Oh, I was scrolling through Twitter and placing an Over/Under on time until I decide nobody I know is coming and I can leave.
When we are in a group and want our picture taken, what’s so hard about finding a fellow human who might do us a solid and press a button on our phones? What are we scared of -- that these people will scoff at us and walk away? That’s the worse case scenario right? Even in that case, we just place that person in the category of jerk and ask a nicer stranger.
Remember when we had conversations with strangers and there were shared ethics of politeness? In those days, we weren’t afraid of judging directly someone by their actions. Jerks are jerks. The Jerk Store is booming -- there are tens of thousands of locations across the world. Nowadays, we hedge against confrontations -- even just curt conversations -- and employ our devices to escape the awkward. But, surely, we passive-aggressively troll them on social media.
So next time you want to take a selfie, please find the courage to ask a stranger to take the picture instead. I’m going to try this too. I’m just as much a “headphone drone” as anyone.
And don’t give me this song and dance about “my camera app isn’t user-friendly for a stranger to use.” Apple Google, and Samsung are succeeding because, no matter how many filters there are, there’s almost always a camera icon you press to take a picture. Simplicity of user experience is paramount to this day. It’s not rocket science. It can't be. Unless you’re Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and Michio Kaku taking a selfie. That, right there, is a selfie that I’d like to re-tweet.
We’ve reached "Peak Selfie." We share experiences, alluring poses, and even lice this way. One of my favorite bands, The Chainsmokers, even has a hit single out that pokes fun at this. It's called, of course, "#Selfie."
I think it’s telling that we’ve chosen en masse to snap these self-regarding pictures. I think selfies are a symptom of societal breakdown.
I do my fair share of Old Person Whining. So, I won’t go on long. But, think about this: why aren’t we just asking a nearby stranger to snap the photo of us and our friends? Is it really that awkward to ask? Have we become such prisoners of awkwardness that we cannot look a stranger in the eyes, smile, and politely ask of them a shutter shot? Why have we chosen to use the terrible-quality facing camera of our smartphone over a far superior quality picture taken by a third party several feet away?
Maybe this is nothing. But, I don’t think so. I think it’s part of the singularity phenomenon caused by our relationship with mobile personal technology. We put our headphones in and isolate our sense of sound from interaction with the real world. We hold our phones and tablets in the prayer position to cut off sight from the outside world. We become alone, together. [Insert Her reference here]
We already have an agreed to use of mobile tech to avoid awkwardness: the look-at-our-phones-in-an-uncomfortable-public-setting move. Elevators? Who even talks to fellow elevator-riders anymore? Parties with nobody you really know? Who has the courage to join a group conversation and meet new people? Me? Oh, I was scrolling through Twitter and placing an Over/Under on time until I decide nobody I know is coming and I can leave.
When we are in a group and want our picture taken, what’s so hard about finding a fellow human who might do us a solid and press a button on our phones? What are we scared of -- that these people will scoff at us and walk away? That’s the worse case scenario right? Even in that case, we just place that person in the category of jerk and ask a nicer stranger.
Remember when we had conversations with strangers and there were shared ethics of politeness? In those days, we weren’t afraid of judging directly someone by their actions. Jerks are jerks. The Jerk Store is booming -- there are tens of thousands of locations across the world. Nowadays, we hedge against confrontations -- even just curt conversations -- and employ our devices to escape the awkward. But, surely, we passive-aggressively troll them on social media.
So next time you want to take a selfie, please find the courage to ask a stranger to take the picture instead. I’m going to try this too. I’m just as much a “headphone drone” as anyone.
And don’t give me this song and dance about “my camera app isn’t user-friendly for a stranger to use.” Apple Google, and Samsung are succeeding because, no matter how many filters there are, there’s almost always a camera icon you press to take a picture. Simplicity of user experience is paramount to this day. It’s not rocket science. It can't be. Unless you’re Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and Michio Kaku taking a selfie. That, right there, is a selfie that I’d like to re-tweet.
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