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I think the article's point is more so that people are constantly prepared for having their picture taken where as previously people would go to social function

I think the article's point is more so that people are constantly prepared for having their picture taken where as previously people would go to social functions without the constant expectation of being on camera. I don't really disagree with their points but I think its important to realize that its actually only a small number of people that actually take that many selfies.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago
> I don't really disagree with their points but I think its important to realize that its actually only a small number of people that actually take that many selfies. You obviously don't live in Asia. :)
- ghaff 5y ago
  In a way, the West caught up with Asia. I remember the days when the constant group photos at Asian business functions--and the Japanese tourists clicking photos of every thing and everyone--seemed pretty weird.
blamazon 5y ago
That, and social functions weren’t documented in crystal clear resolution and broadcast to the world to see. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a real psychological threat of the modern age. I empathize with youths who have never known a time without hyper-FOMO.
- galoisgirl 5y ago
  #noFOMO
  - bravetraveler 5y ago
    'it happened before, it'll happen again' Nihilists remedy to FOMO
tyre 5y ago
Susan Sontag’s “On Photography” is a mind-expanding read on this. She traces the history of photography and how it changed people. Suddenly with portable cameras, vacations became more about taking photos, which meant prioritizing places that looked good in photographs. It also meant thinking about and prioritizing being photographed. Some of the essays are basically about Instagram and its effects on society…she just happened to have written them in the 1970s.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  This is a dead thread; I assume nobody but you will see this. Though that might dilute what I’m about to say, given this is a public forum, I still wanted to say, emphatically, thank you. I bought a copy of Sontag’s On Photography on the back of your comment. It is one of the more worldview-changing books I have read in a long time.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago

> I don't really disagree with their points but I think its important to realize that its actually only a small number of people that actually take that many selfies. You obviously don't live in Asia. :)

ghaff 5y ago
In a way, the West caught up with Asia. I remember the days when the constant group photos at Asian business functions--and the Japanese tourists clicking photos of every thing and everyone--seemed pretty weird.

blamazon 5y ago

That, and social functions weren’t documented in crystal clear resolution and broadcast to the world to see. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a real psychological threat of the modern age. I empathize with youths who have never known a time without hyper-FOMO.

galoisgirl 5y ago
#noFOMO
- bravetraveler 5y ago
  'it happened before, it'll happen again' Nihilists remedy to FOMO

tyre 5y ago

Susan Sontag’s “On Photography” is a mind-expanding read on this. She traces the history of photography and how it changed people. Suddenly with portable cameras, vacations became more about taking photos, which meant prioritizing places that looked good in photographs. It also meant thinking about and prioritizing being photographed. Some of the essays are basically about Instagram and its effects on society…she just happened to have written them in the 1970s.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
This is a dead thread; I assume nobody but you will see this. Though that might dilute what I’m about to say, given this is a public forum, I still wanted to say, emphatically, thank you. I bought a copy of Sontag’s On Photography on the back of your comment. It is one of the more worldview-changing books I have read in a long time.