The (Unfortunate) Age of the Selfie Stick
The past decade has presented many globally influential events including the Presidential election of Barack Obama, the Greek debt crisis, and the ‘selfie stick’ at possibly every major tourist destination.
The current debate on the use of the selfie stick is one that is growing rapidly, recognized by large scale companies and even governments worldwide, on the appropriateness (or inappropriateness) of using this product in public spaces. In assessing the emergence of this debate, let's start with the genealogy of how the obsession with the self and selfie began in modern culture. The term ‘selfie’ has been historically archived as coming from a drunk 21-year-old Australian, Nathan Hope, at a birthday party in 2002. Dr. Karl provides a brief history of the selfie with a timeline stretching from the “earliest painted selfie” by Parmiagianino in 1523 to the first photographic selfie by Robert Cornelius in 1839. He also highlights the Australian linguistic tendency to shorten words with a vowel at the end such as labeling a ‘fire officer’ as a ‘firie’ or a ‘tradesperson’ as a ‘tradie’, all of which historically lead to the most famously known selfie taken by Ellen DeGeneres’ at the 2014 Academy Awards posted to Twitter, and ultimately to the current phenomena of the selfie we know today.
The technological emergence contributing to the habitual practice of ‘selfie’ taking could be the first shifts in cell-phone technology including the creation of cellphones with front-facing cameras. The first known cellphone with a front-facing camera was produced by a Japanese company, Sony, presenting the Sony Ericsson Z1010, with a front-facing camera of 101x80 Pixels of resolution, created in the Q4 of 2003 and sold for $130. Another major advancement includes the production of the iPhone 4 with front-facing camera, and video calling released in June, 2010, perpetuating the Apple cult, our addiction to their products, and possibly to the taking of ‘selfies’ in general. Further pushing the boundaries of our global narcissism is the use of social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and the like, creating a foundational need to ‘share’ our selves to our respective ‘friends’ and ‘followers’.
As the self continues to grow as priority for people, a circumstance nourished by modern media, it almost seems like a natural progression to see the newest product on the market, the ‘selfie stick’, and it’s current position in the context of travel since, when you think about it, the tourist experience has always had an inherent self-actualization characteristic, aka the ‘look at me in this place’ syndrome. However, some organizations -- including large scale theme parks (Disneyland), events (Kentucky Derby, Coachella), and even entire countries, namely South Korea -- are banning the accessory all together. This presents a firm position in the debate of the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the selfie stick leading to new ventures like CanIBringMySelfieStick.com, a website founded by Attractiontix.co.uk, helping tourists to know where sticks are or are not aloud globally.
The debate on the use of the selfie sticks includes both counter versus convenience arguments and the strong love or hate attitudes associated with them. Some examples include being counter seeing “a grown man protract a metal rod, attach it to his daughter’s crystal-encrusted phone, and take slow, circular baby steps with a family of four and their clenched teeth…” while at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, to the newly coined term ‘narcissi-stick’ created by both travelers and locals poking fun at tourists using with the selfie stick in public spaces. On the other side of the spectrum, some travelers say it’s better to stage your own vacation photos, are more comfortable taking the photos themselves, and believe you should have the right to “control your image!”
Regardless of opinion, the selling of selfie sticks has become an issue in common tourist areas as many are bombarded with (normally illegal) immigrants selling this product relentlessly and the simply imposing nature of the accessory in any given public space, leading to some wanting the selfie stick banned from life in general. As I’m also one of those counter narcissi-stick-ians and “pro experiencing the shit out of new places”, unfortunately, I believe all we can do is just keep hoping more places of public interest continue to ban the use of these accessories. This would ultiamtely encourage actually experiencing the spaces the world has to offer and building memories that last beyond digital archive.
