4 ms·
Perhaps something that has been overlooked is that for most people, their phone IS their camera. Years prior, it would've been too awkward to take a selfie in
by 22c 4y ago
Perhaps something that has been overlooked is that for most people, their phone IS their camera.
Years prior, it would've been too awkward to take a selfie in front of the Eiffel tower, so you'd have to get someone else to take the photo for you. They'd probably be standing much further back than the length of your extended arm, or even a selfie stick, so you'd naturally end up with more of the attraction in the frame than the traveller.
If it were possible to get both the detail of a tight portrait shot AND a good framing of the attraction AND it were as easy as taking a selfie, then we'd probably see more photos where the attraction is less "shaded" by the traveller.
Having said that I do think that a lot of "Instagram travel bloggers" exhibit selfish/narcissistic behaviours.
- filoleg 4y agoWow, this is a great point that I've never even considering, despite pondering on the topic of the whole instagram culture for a long time.
- zbird 4y agoI don't even understand why one should be in the picture to begin with.
- MonaroVXR 4y agoI come in, since. I have been traveling with my sister... Do you what I keep it short. It's just to show off where you have been. Traveling is most of the time to show off. According in the environment I'm in.
- Rebelgecko 4y agoAt that point why even take pictures of landmarks? Unless you have a decent camera and invest the time to learn how to use it, a professional pic of the Grand Canyon or Eiffel Tower is gonna be way better than yours.
- Rastonbury 4y agoWeird take, just because there are people better and have done better means it's pointless to want to take my own photos? There are lots of reasons to take photos, to practise/improve, for something to keep as a memory of the experience, etc
- shellfisher 4y agoNo weirder a take than the parent post rejecting the idea of putting oneself in the picture.
- zbird 4y agoFor the same reason you re-implement software that already exists, for example.
- herbst 4y agoI just keep them as reminder for myself. I don't post selfies (or any pictures for that matter) in public. I more often ask myself why people are doing images of only the landmarks (instead of actually enjoying them) when they know just as well that their cameras and photo skills are crappy compared to whatever Google spits out.
- lotsofpulp 4y agoBecause they want to be. I like rifling through old photos/videos my parents took of themselves and me and my sister and other family members. We get start talking about what/who has changed since then, make fun of old fashion choices, and otherwise reminisce. Photos can also help jog memory of a specific time and place that you otherwise would not remember.
- Rastonbury 4y agoThe choice is to take a picture of the eiffel tower as the subject (without you) or a selfie with the eiffel tower in the background. Being into photography somewhat, I've always posted pictures of attractions and never myself. I still found it a bit narcissistic/self indulgent, like "oh I'm travelling to nice look at me" I hardly post anymore
- winternett 4y agoSocial media creates the conflict that shames people for documenting their moments. In days before the Internet, there are several instances of people photographing themselves in front of monuments and other things, If you check out "old school cool" on reddit, that becomes apparent (for those who weren't there). Now, social media pays people for becoming celebrities, so the culture is a lot more staged as a result... It's not the fault of people who otherwise catalogue their activities and travels, so this should always be kept in proper perspective. Social media rewards vapid, ignorant, and self-obsessed behavior in tech bloggers and politicians as much as it does wealthy teenagers that do nothing more but filming their daily self-absorbed excess within their lifestyles. Normal and aspiring creators share the photos for those that care in hopes of being discovered, but most of the time they're off the platform's scripts, so they don't get promoted at all by the platform. It's the corporately engineered algorithms that should be blames for presenting personality/brand based (staged) content to most of us on purpose whenever we ritually don't like the content. If you don't like content that is not based on personality, start clicking "like" on stuff that isn't popular, and not based on the common ego-driven social media tropes... Also stop supporting things that make social media bias, personality cults, and consumerist/psychological manipulation popular... TikTok literally tells platform users what kind of content to create, that way they shape most of the experience on the platform into most of the repetitive "personality-driven" drivel that we see promoted on it (on purpose) all the time.