To Feel Angered by People Taking So Many Photos for the 'Gram...?

I hear you op

It's depressing x

Thing is, your outrage is futile- it doesn't change anything and only results in you getting internally furious. There are some causes or issues that we can fight or do something proactive- campaign, sign a petition, donate, volunteer etc but I just don't think there's anything productive to channel your fury into.

You can debate it in on forums like these, talk about it in real life, not have any social media yourself... but besides that I just don't think there's much you can do.

So for your own wellbeing it's probably better to accept people choose to live differently to you and live and let live. You won't change anyone's mind by telling them they should do things differently.

We were at a national trust place a few weeks ago and people were blocking a grand staircase so they could lounge on the steps and pose (and check the pic, and pose again...) and sitting on the walls overlooking the grounds looking wistfully away from the camera and flicking their hair about. It's more about "how good can I look in this place" than enjoying where you are. I agree OP, nothing wrong with a few pics yo remember a day out, but posing like you're in a photoshoot for vogue is a bit much.

I completely get the rage. We were in the gym on holiday and a girl was fannying on in flip flops, making it seem like a full work out and posing with her arms up in a strong pose. She had done a single squat and her boyfriend filmed it in slow mo. I was incensed. But why? I couldn’t tell you. Absolutely nothing to do with me, or my workout. Had no bearing on my day or life whatsoever but it really irritated me. Is it just the fakeness of it all?

don’t get me started on dragging poor kids to the freezing cold pumpkin patch for the gram.

Ha yes the insult “poser” my dad used to say it not heard it for years I guess because being a poser is basically normalised now.

Fucking hate flower arches.
Another thing I hate now are those naff photo booths you get at weddings and office parties - the ones with comedy moustaches on sticks etc for those who want to take humorous snaps with a crazeeee vibe.

No thanks Sandra from accounts - I don't want to pose with a giant inflatable microphone while you do that annoying kissing face wearing a tache. While Bernard the manager holds a sign saying hashtag live laugh love 🙄. So you that can cycle it round everyone's Instagram stories all weekend.

If you're in any way academically inclined read Marshal McLuhan & Jodie Dean.
I don't like insta tourism either. It's because of the values that this kind of communication embodies - about how things look to others to the detriment of all else

What really gets under your skin, what really gets your goat, what really really makes you mad when you know actually isn't a big deal, is usually something about you.

Is there some part of yourself that you push down, don't acknowledge, reject, that you see in these other people? Is there something that you need to let out or accept about yourself?

It's clearly late! Good luck!

Yes, I know I don’t, but maybe if you saw me taking pictures you’d think I was. And I’m jealous your shithole town has been done up, mine hasn’t and I honestly feel embarrassed seeing tourists here because it looks so dated and shite!

My husband won't stop for people taking photos now. He just carries on walking through.

Someone upthread uses the word vapid, and another said everyone thinks they are a celebrity- I agree with both.

I went to the British Museum and a young couple were taking photos outside the main entrance. Except it was the man taking endless snaps of the woman, who was posing up a storm with her top pulled off one shoulder. What for?! I may have muttered something when she turned her back to the camera and looked over her shoulder. Vacuous twats.

I also hate those fake flower arches that restaurants now have outside their doors for the Gram. I avoid those restaurants. Or people taking photographs of their mundane meals. Cheese and ham toastie with skin on fries - snap snap.

It's absolutely dire, I totally agree with you op.
In my town there is a particularly insta-famous street of houses and, honestly, there are hundreds of people there every day all taking the same damn photo.

You might think it's harmless but I worry for global warming - storing all this pointless data causes a massive carbon footprint.

I also worry for our brains and our memories - we don't need to remember anything anymore because we have 73936 photos of the event.

It terrifies me how unbothered so many people are actually.

And there’s always been a particularly high concentration of arseholes at tourist/ visitor attractions. This is just the latest strain

I was at a famous landmark recently. There was a low wall in front of the landmark. No one could get a photo of them at the landmark because a girl kept insisting on walking across the wall towards her boyfriend (towards the middle/end of the wall) and swooshing her hair as she walked past him.

The moment she walked past the camera she would immediately stop, swipe the camera from him, watch the footage and scream “It’s not right!!”

Then she would repeat it; walk, swoosh hair, watch video, scream at boyfriend. It was quite hypnotic but deeply weird.

However I am in two minds about this feeling weird to me as in my opening paragraph I wrote:

”No one could get a photo of them and the landmark because...”

and I originally wanted to write:

“. No one could get a normal photo of them and the landmark because…”

A normal photo of someone at a landmark to 40 ish year old me is very different concept than this girl. Just like my idea of having my photo taken was different from my great grandparents. I just want to smile and get a snapshot. She wants more. My grandparents didn’t smile.

However I do hate how vain everyone is. When I grew up the worst thing you could be was a poser and I detest that posers are the norm now.

It sounds like you’re spending more time noseying at what people around you are doing than appreciating these special places for what they are so I don’t think you can judge too harshly

I don’t mind it. I like having lots of photos, my memory’s not the best after having children and essentially not sleeping for five years so I enjoy looking back at my pictures. I take loads and don’t even have social media. I think you’re assuming a lot about people and it’s taking up a lot of headspace it doesn’t need to, imo