Are Selfie Sticks inherently narcissistic?

[Nas!]

Oh please! Vanity is the open season of mortal sins. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

My selfies stick is the best.  It's better than all of yourses.  It yuge.  Everyone that sees it is like "omg that's the best selfie stick I wish mine was so yuge." People tell me things and I'm like "I know, you tell me"

[siyxx]

I mean, when I travel alone to new places sometimes I just want to snap something with me in it for my mom, you know? (because for my mom, even if it's a pic of gosh-darn mt. Everest that I actually trekked on and died for, but without her precious daughter (aka me) in it then it's just another friggin postcard. Aren't all moms like that?). It's not like I like my face or anything in this case. Just for my loved ones at home and for the keepsake memory box I kept from my journeys. 

And sometimes it's quite fun, you know, taking selfies with all your friends (still about traveling) because of course who wants to be left out in a group photo at Niagara falls. 

[Theda Baratheon]

On the topic of mums mine actually really does love photos of me out and about lmao 

[Chaldanya]

If I could get a decent angle that didn't make my perfect nose look hideous I'd take selfies like it was my job.  I understand the need to do so, not only is it a way of self validation (and we all do that in one form or another) but you are also commemorating a moment and you are actually there instead of taking a picture at a remove from the action.

Further: this obsession people have with what other people are doing with their time is frankly baffling.  Couldn't care less if someone is looking at their phone and not taking in nature (and aside: would you say the same if someone was sitting in a park reading??). Why do you care. Similarly, provided a selfie stick isn't smacking you 'round the head everywhere you walk, why do you care?

Also, not for nothing, it isn't lost on me that an activity that was first popularised by teenage girls is being demonised.  We really don't like it when teenage girls do anything that is perceived as shallow, which is funny when you think that the overwhelming message for women from the cradle to the grave is that your worth is tied to your looks.  Just something for you to think on...

 

[Theda Baratheon]

58 minutes ago, Chaldanya said:

If I could get a decent angle that didn't make my perfect nose look hideous I'd take selfies like it was my job.  I understand the need to do so, not only is it a way of self validation (and we all do that in one form or another) but you are also commemorating a moment and you are actually there instead of taking a picture at a remove from the action.

Further: this obsession people have with what other people are doing with their time is frankly baffling.  Couldn't care less if someone is looking at their phone and not taking in nature (and aside: would you say the same if someone was sitting in a park reading??). Why do you care. Similarly, provided a selfie stick isn't smacking you 'round the head everywhere you walk, why do you care?

Also, not for nothing, it isn't lost on me that an activity that was first popularised by teenage girls is being demonised.  We really don't like it when teenage girls do anything that is perceived as shallow, which is funny when you think that the overwhelming message for women from the cradle to the grave is that your worth is tied to your looks.  Just something for you to think on...

 

Totally agree with everything you've written, couldn't say it better. 

 

It does irk me the amount of hostility I see thrown towards teenage girls, especially by men in their 30s, not even creepy stuff now, just the hostility and mocking. you'll see it on any popular Youtuber's videos who happens to be a young woman, anyone perceived to be ''fake'' or ''narcissistic'' or a ''bitch'' on very little evidence other than the horrible assumptions they've just come up with. I do NOT understand this obsessing over others and it makes me very uncomfortable. 

[DreamSongs]

Call me selfish, call me vain...butom is going to want pics of me in Californey.  

I should get a cheap one;  just in case.

[Dr. Pepper]

14 hours ago, siyxx said:

I mean, when I travel alone to new places sometimes I just want to snap something with me in it for my mom, you know? (because for my mom, even if it's a pic of gosh-darn mt. Everest that I actually trekked on and died for, but without her precious daughter (aka me) in it then it's just another friggin postcard. Aren't all moms like that?). It's not like I like my face or anything in this case. Just for my loved ones at home and for the keepsake memory box I kept from my journeys. 

And sometimes it's quite fun, you know, taking selfies with all your friends (still about traveling) because of course who wants to be left out in a group photo at Niagara falls. 

Back in the olden days, like a year ago, people used to ask others to take their group shot.  Or their single shot. 

3 hours ago, DreamSongs said:

Call me selfish, call me vain...butom is going to want pics of me in Californey.  

I should get a cheap one;  just in case.

Just ask someone to take a pic for you.  They'll give you a selfie stick instead.  

[Greywolf2375]

25 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said:

Back in the olden days, like a year ago, people used to ask others to take their group shot.  Or their single shot. 

Just ask someone to take a pic for you.  They'll give you a selfie stick instead.  

So we can ask other people to take a picture of us, but don't dare talk to us when we are reading a book they also know about?  As has been said many places on this board, some people don't want to or aren't comfortable with approaching other people.  The selfie stick is fine - I was never a big picture taker, but since my son was born I've found I enjoy pictures more.  Gives me so many more opportunities to share what he is doing with is grandparents, etc.

I look at the selfie stick like I look at a cane - don't hit me with it, do whatever else the hell you want.

[Dr. Pepper]

18 minutes ago, Greywolf2375 said:

So we can ask other people to take a picture of us, but don't dare talk to us when we are reading a book they also know about?  As has been said many places on this board, some people don't want to or aren't comfortable with approaching other people.  The selfie stick is fine - I was never a big picture taker, but since my son was born I've found I enjoy pictures more.  Gives me so many more opportunities to share what he is doing with is grandparents, etc.

I look at the selfie stick like I look at a cane - don't hit me with it, do whatever else the hell you want.

I have no idea what you're even talking about with regards to the bolded.  

 

[Elder Sister]

12 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

On the topic of mums mine actually really does love photos of me out and about lmao 

Your mum and I have something in common; I love your selfies!

And I am selfishly glad that my FB friends take as many photos as they do.  I love seeing them.

[Theda Baratheon]

1 minute ago, Elder Sister said:

Your mum and I have something in common; I love your selfies!

And I am selfishly glad that my FB friends take as many photos as they do.  I love seeing them.

Sometimes I get a bit self conscious of posting too many but these days I've been having a lot of fun working in the museum and the selfies there are just documenting that fun  

[AverageGuy]

Given the meaning of self-admiring or self-regarding, I would say they are denotatively narcissistic. 

That said, posting a YouTube video of yourself cutting people's selfie sticks in half wouldn't be devoid of narcissism, either.

[mcbigski]

I used to think that selfie sticks were indicative of a lack of moral fibre, but since Rachel whipped one out at worldcon, I've come around.  They do take better pictures than arm selfies.  So my verdict is that selfie sticks aren't inherently any more narcissistic than selfies in general, just more efficient, since there's less instadelete sort of shots taken.

[siyxx]

Well well, of course we can ask others to take photos for us, but is this always the most practical choice? Don't you just hate it when all the photos (took by some good samaritans) are off-focus, blur as hell and seem to emphasize the wrong things (like you instead of a view behind you)? Or what if you want to take more than a few photos? Who's gonna help you with that? Or how about in a foreign country where theft happens often than not, what if the 'good samaritan' just ran off with your camera/phone? 

But then I just feel the need of selfie sticks only when I travel. Actually I've never owned one myself, but I have the thought of buying it more than a dozen times when traveling alone. Personally I just rarely take selfies because I have short arms LMAO can't see anything but my face so I don't see the point. 

[Buckwheat]

5 hours ago, siyxx said:

Well well, of course we can ask others to take photos for us, but is this always the most practical choice? Don't you just hate it when all the photos (took by some good samaritans) are off-focus, blur as hell and seem to emphasize the wrong things (like you instead of a view behind you)?

Is this not literally the selfies you are describing? I was just thinking about what sort of pictures I usually make. I take pictures of stuff I find interesting and usually unique, something I do not see every day (as opposed to my face, which I see literally every time I walk past a mirror) or something I want to share with a friend (who also already knows how I look). And I want the picture to be clear, to have the object in the middle, to be from the most interesting and elegant angle etc. Trying to put my head beside that object would ruin the purpose by:

1. Making the picture out-of-balance and out of proportion (giant head in the front vs. the tiny object in the background)

2. Make one of the objects blurry

3. Make the picture uglier by adding my ugly face

4. Detract from the thing I am trying to document because I am adding something bigger, more in the foreground, and what I see every day

When taking the picture of somebody else, you can set the camera so the person is in the centre and everything else fits. Plus, you can take the picture of the whole body of a person, not just the head.

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Or what if you want to take more than a few photos?

People in my experience always ask if you want them to take another and are more than happy to do it.

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Who's gonna help you with that? Or how about in a foreign country where theft happens often than not, what if the 'good samaritan' just ran off with your camera/phone?

Ask another tourist as opposed to a local.

Ask somebody from your own group (if you want a picture just of yourself, obviously).

Ask your tour guide/tourist worker/the guard at the thing you are visiting. Basically, ask somebody who will probably not do it because they would be fired from their job if they tried to rob tourists.

I do not take selfies myself because I personally find them relatively dumb, I know what my face looks like and I do not feel the need to. I also think carrying around such a piece of equipment such as a selfie stick must be much more impractical than making do whatever you can with your hands (if you really want to have a selfie) or just taking pictures of things that are more unique than something you see every day or asking somebody else to take a photo of your body. (I generally think whole-body-pictures of humans are prettier than just pictures of head and shoulders, but that is just personal taste.)

[Dr. Pepper]

Obviously, things get stolen all the time.  The thing about asking someone to snap a pic for you is that you would get to choose who handled your device, which greatly decreased the risk.  This fear of 'snap and grab' is (was?) generally unfounded.  It might happen, but it is (was?) relatively rare.  

I would imagine now that photo culture has become what it is, it would probably soon become more common for people to run off with the camera.  Fewer people asking to snap a pic, way fewer people willing to do something so basic, the same number of potential thieves....well, you see where this goes.  

I'm much like Buckwheat.  I already know what I look like so I don't need a million pieces of digital documentation to remind me or anyone else.  I also have no desire for my life to exist as nothing more than a photo op.  I'm not a professional photographer, so I don't have a work-related reason to keep a camera constantly snapping.  When I take a picture, it's a short moment.  I don't live to take pictures.

My girlfriend is a selfie addict.  She's constantly snapping away, and it is the root of a lot of arguments.  There's a lot of it I tried to ignore because for her, she didn't actually know what she looked like for most of her life.  She's finally been able to transition and I understand the importance of her documenting it and also marveling in this newfound freedom of being who she is.  But...it disrupts my life in a lot of ways.  My life is not a photo op.  She also has a selfie stick that she uses constantly.  I've had to all but ban it from my presence and also ban her completely from taking pics of the kids.  Not going to lie, this selfie business has put such a strain on our otherwise perfect relationship that I'm not sure it's going to last.  I can't live like that and she refuses to get help because she doesn't see a problem.  And why should she?  Everyone else is doing it. 

[Theda Baratheon]

10 hours ago, Buckwheat said:

Is this not literally the selfies you are describing? I was just thinking about what sort of pictures I usually make. I take pictures of stuff I find interesting and usually unique, something I do not see every day (as opposed to my face, which I see literally every time I walk past a mirror) or something I want to share with a friend (who also already knows how I look). And I want the picture to be clear, to have the object in the middle, to be from the most interesting and elegant angle etc. Trying to put my head beside that object would ruin the purpose by:

1. Making the picture out-of-balance and out of proportion (giant head in the front vs. the tiny object in the background)

2. Make one of the objects blurry

3. Make the picture uglier by adding my ugly face

4. Detract from the thing I am trying to document because I am adding something bigger, more in the foreground, and what I see every day

When taking the picture of somebody else, you can set the camera so the person is in the centre and everything else fits. Plus, you can take the picture of the whole body of a person, not just the head.

People in my experience always ask if you want them to take another and are more than happy to do it.

Ask another tourist as opposed to a local.

Ask somebody from your own group (if you want a picture just of yourself, obviously).

Ask your tour guide/tourist worker/the guard at the thing you are visiting. Basically, ask somebody who will probably not do it because they would be fired from their job if they tried to rob tourists.

I do not take selfies myself because I personally find them relatively dumb, I know what my face looks like and I do not feel the need to. I also think carrying around such a piece of equipment such as a selfie stick must be much more impractical than making do whatever you can with your hands (if you really want to have a selfie) or just taking pictures of things that are more unique than something you see every day or asking somebody else to take a photo of your body. (I generally think whole-body-pictures of humans are prettier than just pictures of head and shoulders, but that is just personal taste.)

why cant you take a photo of a mountain by itself and then also take a photo of a mountain with you in feont of it haha having a selfie with one doesnt cancel the other type of photo. 

i take lots of photos of stuff, much more than i ever take of myself, but i still like to take photos of myself too. 

18 hours ago, AverageGuy said:

Given the meaning of self-admiring or self-regarding, I would say they are denotatively narcissistic. 

That said, posting a YouTube video of yourself cutting people's selfie sticks in half wouldn't be devoid of narcissism, either.

but why does a selfie have to be self admiring or self regarding and also what is wrong with self admiring and self regarding. there's this real trend of like shitting on girls who actually are confident with and like the way they look. 

i personally am not a big fan of the way i look but i still take selfies. 

[Buckwheat]

9 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

why cant you take a photo of a mountain by itself and then also take a photo of a mountain with you in feont of it haha having a selfie with one doesnt cancel the other type of photo. 

i take lots of photos of stuff, much more than i ever take of myself, but i still like to take photos of myself too.

Oh, I sometimes like to have a picture of me with a pretty background too, but in that case I ask somebody else to do it, because, as I said, I much prefer full-body pictures than just a photo of head and shoulders. I find such pictures much more balanced.

(Also, no mountains. I dislike hiking and stuff.)

[Theda Baratheon]

5 minutes ago, Buckwheat said:

Oh, I sometimes like to have a picture of me with a pretty background too, but in that case I ask somebody else to do it, because, as I said, I much prefer full-body pictures than just a photo of head and shoulders. I find such pictures much more balanced.

(Also, no mountains. I dislike hiking and stuff.)

oh i get that but theres also the argument made that some people are particular about their photos, not being blurry from other people, ect.