No one enjoys the moment anymore

[BubblesBlossomAndButtercup]

I went to London to watch the NYE fireworks. I took a few pictures during the display but there was no way I was filming the countdown. I wanted to enjoy it.
I can’t speak for everyone who went of course, but certainly in my section, everyone was filming it. When the moment came, DP and I hugged and kissed - and no one else around us did.

We had a good view ruined a lot by people holding up their phones. Fine for a second, but for the whole thing!!!

Has the world gone mad? :(

I've been out for some nice meals over Christmas and found it depressing to see so many people in the restaurants glued to their phones. I mean, sitting opposite their partner, mother, kids just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling with their eyes fixed to the tiny screen and engaging in zero conversation. Many of them only just about pausing to let the server put their food in front of them. It could have been a plate of shit for all they seemed to care. What in god's name are they looking at? They can't all be high powered business people waiting for earth shattering business deals or emails on Christmas Day surely.

I get taking a couple of photos but not filming a whole concert. Does anyone ever sit and watch the videos again?

i think photos of family are fine but why oh why do people film an entire concert?! They can’t see it properly when then are actually then & then as you say do the really watch the whole thing back again? Why not just buy the official concert video.

Yeah I get what you mean... I never record full gigs/fireworks etc but I do record for maybe a minute or so then stop and enjoy what ever activity we're doing... as an adult now I absolutely treasure the fact my parents/grandparents recorded me as a child and showing my children i wasn't always mum lol 🤣🤣🤣

It perhaps is a generation thing in general although my parents are bad for it.

Nah, the people who take dozens of selfies and post them on SM are just the updated version of getting invited around to someone’s house to look at their holiday photos.

This is a fair point. My dad was obsessed with photographing things when I was growing up (70s/80s). It would get annoying, particularly when I was a self-conscious teenager and did not want my photo taken at all!

Film cameras were self-limiting to an extent, due to each picture having a cost to produce, impracticality of changing the film out and about, cameras being more cumbersome etc, but had there been such a thing as digital photography, I can imagine my dad being as bad as some folk are today.

Recording a gig .. whats the point ?? Shaky footage, and the sound of the person next to you singing.
Fireworks, never look as good on film.

I had a girl doing this kind of thing at an Akon and Ne-yo concert a couple of weeks ago. Her whole evening was all about her taking picture after picture of herself supposedly enjoying the show but she must have missed chunks of it setting her pictures up it was all so deliberate and time consuming.

I was with my teenage granddaughters and they took a couple of pictures but even if I hadn’t said to them enjoy the concert in real time I'm
pretty sure they’d not have taken more than they actually did.

I used to work as a photographer. Eventually I found myself not just photographing everything but also ,missing things because my mind was lining up a good composition. I remember one day when OH and I were setting off on a walk and he said "Will you just leave that bloody camera behind!" He was of course right.
I have just spent Christmas and New Year photographing family and friends having fun, but I feel it is something I can do for them as my disability makes it hard for me to join in anything energetic. I will make a lovely photo book for them.

The thing i find now is that you have to ask your own kids is it ok to take a photo
of you.

I know of a few people that wished they had more photos to look back on but told their parents not to take any shame really as on was a goth and she admits she would love to show her kids how cool she was.
I also know of a family that wont take photos of their children becoz the kids say no their only 5&6 she has about 8 photos since them being born no birthday or school days nothing sad really.

I have all sorts of photos hundreds of them of my kids even ones where they're drunk in their teens. There all adults now and they laugh so much when the photo box comes out. Its nice to just hear oh do you remember that omg mum your hair or i thought i looked cool in that how old was i on this photo.

But sadly alot of kids find offence if you take photos now.

This. I somehow get much better joy in looking back at things than being actually in the moment. I think you can do both though.

It irritates the shit out of me. People don't absorb their environment or how whatever the thing is makes them feel. People have lost the ability to be present in the moment because there's this weird need to capture everything on their phones.
I can't stand going to gigs being surrounded by little lit up rectangles because it ruins my experience.
And it's the same at any landmark, nice restaurant etc. I went out for lunch on Saturday and was surrounded by people taking selfies. It's madness.

Yes people film too much. Also at concerts. Do they ever watch it back? The quality is never really that good, best to just enjoy! I do like filming my kids being cute but that's a bit different I think

I also went in early December. It was fantastic! Personally I took a few photos and videos but mostly just enjoyed the moment as it was really breathtaking in parts, so I couldn't not. I find you can have a balance of both.

Yep the world we live in sadly. My 5 year old did a Christmas performance at school last month and I was pretty much the only parent to just sit and watch it start to finish without once touching my phone. Plenty filmed the entire thing pretty much!

I’m all for the odd photo! In fact, I keep a physical photo album for mine and DP’s holidays, and I love it, so I definitely will take photos with him and of iconic spots. But I’ll take a few and then enjoy the view, I won’t conduct a full photoshoot and then leave.

What I mean is, the countdown for me has always been about being with loved ones and hugging and kissing, I couldn’t believe no one did it!

I’ve also noticed on TikTok (deleted now) when people say things like “best tourist spots”. These are useful but I can’t imagine filming myself walking in, filming the drink I had etc. I know for some people it’s their job but I just can’t imagine it!

I'm an in the moment person. I hate everyone out with their phones drives me mad! I'm only in my 30's so I am def bucking the trend within my age group.

It's funny you talk about the fireworks as I said to my dh look at them all out with their phones. Who wants to see the fireworks from your phone when u can see it in person. He said I took a video at Disneyland of the fireworks. I said have u watched it back, he said no. Point proven 😂

I’m an English teacher, I know what the word means, thanks. I also know it’s general usage in the case of social media. Both sense suggest selecting and presenting well, rather than just sharing whatever. They suggest portraying something at its best - in the case of social media, with a heavy suggestion of trying to make your life look better than it is. That’s not what I do.

If I do that, it’s a small clip to share the atmosphere with other fans of the artist who couldn’t be there. I’m amazed you can’t imagine reasons people might want to - though I agree doing the whole thing would be odd. I’ve never seen anyone do that though. Would a battery/memory even support that?

Went to a concert last year and my phone cut out after I got a picture of the stage. Was the best thing that could have happened. Just stood and sang along!!!! Yes the world is gone mad, I do it too, school play and I try to film/ take pictures and realise I’m missing just watching it (and they make you buya memory pen with it on afterwards anyway!!)

Posters keep saying these things. ‘People don’t absorb their surroundings…’, ‘people have lost the ability to be in the moment’… How on earth do you know? Maybe you can’t do those things and hold a phone at the same time, but maybe they can. I’m pretty certain taking photos has never made me miss the moment/fail to recognise the way I feel about it. I’m really unsure how it would, to be honest. Why are you all so sure it does?

I used to do this because lots of relatives live a long way away and it gave them the opportunity to see it. It was always okayed by the school. It didn’t interfere with me (or anyone else) watching/enjoying in the moment.

I hate hugging and kissing in public, and anyway I don’t have a partner.

I agree it's gone OTT with filming life rather than participating in the moment. BUT, photos/ videos are great to help you remember special events. I rarely post mine on SM but I enjoy scrolling through them sometimes and looking through my albums (I'm old!). The photos bring back memories whereas other events may well be long forgotten.

We went to the fireworks last year and I did take a few clips, as a memento. Otherwise, I just watched them.

Smartphones were released when my youngest students were toddlers so they have never known a life without it. It’s totally alien for them to even imagine life without access to the internet/smartphones/online shopping/social media etc.

I’m only 30 myself but have never used TikTok and they all think I’m a dinosaur. It’s normal and usual behaviour for them to be on their phones most of the time. I’ve had to tell a couple of them off for using their phones during seminars because it’s fucking rude, they honestly don’t think twice about it.

Everyone hates real life. They live for Instagram. That's why cafes etc are putting up tacky flower arches over door ways etc. so people can photograph themselves going in for a coffee and put it up on the Gram as if it's a special event. They want the validation that they are living amazing lives when it's the same mundane life as the rest of us.

Concerts etc are a nightmare now. I recently went to a New Order one. Because the demographic was older there were very few people holding up phones, most were just fully attentive to the stage. It was refreshing but an outlier.

In a packed cafe at the weekend, two women in their late 20s came in with wheeled luggage. There was not much space, tables too close. However they were accommodated. Their food arrrived, just a sandwich and an eggs Benedict. One of them got out a camera (proper one with big lens) and contorted herself in to the next tables space to get good shots of this very ordinary food. Not one or two, a steam. No conception she was disturbing others. Or just what a fucking weird thing to do.