cruisr

I am so glad that more and more places are banning these things. When did it become mandatory that you have to be in every friggin picture????? The world does not revolve around you. people don't want to see you in every picture, Sorry. If you took the picture, that means you were there, right?

abmj-jr

The reason so many museums, restaurants and other venues are banning them has nothing to do with taking selfies. It is because they have had instances of patrons or staff being whacked with a phone extension stick when the self-absorbed "selfist" doesn't pay attention as he/she tries for just one more shot for Facebook, often while walking backward or otherwise not noticing anyone else in the area. Worse yet, the things have been perceived as a hazard to artworks and furnishings, again because of inattention by the operators.

The folks responding to this thread on Flyer Talk are probably not the problem. The problems lie primarily in the hordes of teenagers and other young people who are unaware of anything in the world around them but themselves. A camera shooter probably can't accidentally reach a priceless artwork or expensive table setting to cause damage with a handheld camera. Put a 3' or 4' extension rod in the hands of anyone and a scratch or other damage is much more possible.

Tripods are often banned because they are seen as a trip hazard or an impediment to traffic flow in crowded venues. Selfie sticks are perceived as a different but equally bothersome hazard that many managers are unwilling to accept.

WillCAD

+1 on all counts.

Like so many things in life, the gear itself is not really the problem. They're inanimate objects. It's misuse of the gear that is the real problem. Stupid people doing stupid things will always hurt other people in ways both large and small. Misuse a selfie stick, you can whack someone in the face or damage valuable artwork. Misuse a car, you can kill people. or cause thousands of dollars in damage to other peoples' property. Misuse a gun, death is often the result.

Heck, people even misuse such harmless-seeming objects as cell phones and umbrellas, to the detriment of others. Lemme tell ya, as a tall person I have a tremendous fear of umbrellas, because the height at which most people carry them puts those sharp metal ends exactly at my eye level. I have come close to taking those things in the face more than once, and I actually have been hit on the sides or back of my head by them a couple of times. So, I've hoped for years that umbrellas, like the selfie sticks, will be banned from Disney World and other public venues.

wco81

Apparently, someone with a selfie stick went on the court at the French Open to get a selfie with Roger Federer, who complained afterwards.

The ultimate selfie device may be coming:

https://www.lily.camera

TMM1982

Saw this on TMZ. A model from Italy was on the beach somewhere, launched this device, and it was taking pics of her as she posed.

abmj-jr

Saw the photos of this incident. It didn't look (might have been the angle) like a "stick" was involved, just a phone and a complete idiot teenager who thought it would be ok to duck security and walk out onto center court for a shot with Federer. After the Seles stabbing a few years ago, the pros do not take at all well to this sort of thing and the security staff undoubtedly caught he**, as they should have. Have no idea what, if anything, happened to the kid.

Just one more example of the complete absence of common sense on the part of some people when they start feeding their narcissism. The "selfie generation" has got to learn to police themselves.

cruisr

Well when you have people like Kim Kartrashian doing a whole book of selfies and people think that's cool there is little hope for this selfie generation

HMPS

As long as s/he does not run away with the camera

TMM1982

When you're 90 and confined to a chair in a home with a failing memory, might be nice to have some selfies to look back at to see how good your life was.

cruisr

I have all the pictures. I don't need to be in all of them to know how good my life is. My mother died of Alzheimer's and she did remember places from looking at pictures and she wasn't in the pictures. Sadly that all goes away.

YoungSoloTraveler

Has nothing to do with "safety reasons", at least for festivals. Its to prevent people from using Periscope & other streaming services. HBO tried and failed to stop all the streams for the Mayweather fight. Game changer perhaps.

Peoriaman1

That's assuming our photos are carefully saved and available for viewing when we're 90. For me that's only forty more years. Do you think Facebook is going to be there in forty years? With the move to digital, I am more careful than ever to maintain safe storage for my Raw files (can't save 'em in boxes like color slides) but most people do not do this.

TMM1982

Facebook may or may not be around in 40 years. But computers and the internet aren't going away anytime soon. As long as they're saved in space somewhere, they will be there for viewing.

GetSetJetSet

I hate these things with a burning fire. What sort of person actually totes one of these monstrosities around?

PradoC

I once flew on a flight to ICN and this girl pulled out her selfie stick stretching to the aisle to take pictures when everyone is trying to get seated / place their items on the overhead.