To be surprised by the number of people who only seem to care about taking pictures of themselves?

[IGaveSoManySigns]

I’m in Rome and spent the day walking around all of the various tourist sites. Everywhere, even in the Vatican city, people only care about taking selfies. Not looking at the information around them. Not taking pictures of the actual sights and historical monuments. Just pouting selfies and videos of them walking. It’s doing my head in!

I saw a man at the colosseum taking photos of the view, but not actually seeing it properly with his eyes. It was bizarre. He was tall, so arms up over the crowd, snap a pic then move on

Went to Budapest recently and the baths were full of 20somethings posing in bikinis taking pics of their arses! So cringe making!!! 🙄🙈

This is another one!! They so clearly just want to post on social media. I’ve taken some pictures (obviously!) but after seeing the view! I’ve seen so many people online saying about the Sistine chapel and only wanting to see that, not the museums, which baffles me as well

I've stopped giving way to these couples, I'll just get in their photo. It used to be fine to give way once or twice on a trip out, but anywhere picturesque, historical or cultural and it is every 5 steps.

They take so long about it too. I've stopped entertaining it.

Self-obsessed fools.

Social media is one of the worst things to happen to society. I always assume anyone who pouts for selfies is lacking in intelligence.
I hate the way the world has gone. I genuinely wish the mobile phone had stayed at dumb phone level.

I’ve done that a couple of times 🤣 you can tell it really annoys them

I completely agree OP. This summer I went somewhere (famous, historical) where a whole section was strictly no photos, so for the first time in ages I was able to just enjoy walking round, reading the information, looking up, all in peace. I think more places should start to introduce this- but I think they’re too scared of losing promotion through social media platforms- when that wouldn't be the case, IMHO.

It’s not the people snapping a quick selfie with a landmark. It’s the curated, long drawn out posing pictures. The one knee up and head tilt. The pouting. The checking and retaking.

Nothing wrong with a quick selfie on holiday. But 20+ minutes of curated poses and twirling, is weird.

Yeah this is what people aren’t getting. I snapped a selfie at the fountain, probably will at some point today too. But it’s the photoshoots as if you’re a celebrity that wind me up

I saw a women set up her young sons lunch box at an attraction on Sunday, she then picked the item he was to eat (pose with) so she could get a picture which she took several and told the boy to lift up the food to get the right photo, it was such a palava.

It's awful. They are everywhere.
A priest told me that in a famous cathedral in central Europe people have been turning their backs to the altar and taking selfies at the consecration.
That sounds a bit like an urban myth but it really isn't. The priest celebrates Mass there regularly.

Anyway, I'm on holiday this week in a location I'm not going to disclose where there are absolutely no selfie-takers or people obsessed with phones. There are some tourists about like me, but mainly people from the country I'm in. It's so nice not having people all over the place posing and getting in the way and also I'm getting to chat to random people because people aren't on their phones all the time.
The location has remained selfie-free because a nearby location has become world famous for its beauty and all the instagrammers go there and have been causing problems for the locals. This area has been overlooked but it won't be long before someone discovers it

It's like being on holiday 20 years ago before all this shite started. So restful.

There is an amusing instagram page called influencers in the wild, which captures some of this madness.

Selfies aren't the same as cute family photos though. They're just hundreds of the same picture, usually the same pose with a different background!

I love nice pictures of people having fun but selfies and engineered posey photos that all look the same are just pointless.

I look ridiculous in most photos anyway so all my photos are of sights and scenery. I don't really care if other people find them boring, I don't take them for them. I love looking back through old photos and remembering all of the times we've had!

I think when someone dies the photos people like to look back on are the ones that capture what that person was like and remind them of the good times. Selfies don't do that.

I really don't! I take photos of the DC doing stuff, but I have no interest in photos of any people getting in the way of a nice view or a building etc.

So from this last holiday I have a lot of photos of DC doing stuff like running around the campsite and practising circus skills at one of the National Trust places or being on the beach etc. And a lot of photos of buildings we visited and scenery we saw without anyone in them. I don't really get it.

Fine if that us what people want but I don't think it's entirely outlandish to prefer views unobstructed.

I'm with you OP.
I am indulgent with teenagers because, well, they are teenagers so hopefully their narcissic streak is due to their age. But when I see women my age (45) and older pouting when taking selfies I just want to die.

I'm OK with taking a family photo in front of a monument thinking It's for the kids to have later on. A photo of myself? No thanks

These are not the sort of people we are complaining about. Single mum with children like you, taking a quick snap, great. Posers taking over art galleries, viewpoints etc and taking 100s of shots in different poses to upload on instagram and "influence" are becoming a real nuisance.

The odd quick selfie I don’t find offensive. Looking back at photos we found from 30 plus years ago of various scenic places , we ended up throwing a good few away as we couldn’t pinpoint where they were and they had certainly lost any meaning to us . If they had of had people in them as well they would have meant much more .

What I do hate is when people miss the whole experience because they are so engrossed in getting the perfect shot . A couple of years back we were on a boating lake where we were having fun, getting sprayed with a little mist in the wind from fountains , rowing and admiring the view. One couple had rowed an incredibly short distance to take photos of her , which she posed for like crazy , but in between each one was shouting at her partner because she was getting a little damp, he wasn’t using the right filter , he didn’t catch the right smile . The photos were such a disconnect from the actual experience they were having .

Totally agree OP.

And it’s not just the annoyance about people hogging the view to pose, it’s what it says about our culture.

Yes of course there’s nothing new about wanting a nice photo of yourself while on holiday or caring about what you look like like. But it’s the complete dominance of this literally self-centred culture that is really depressing. It seems that almost the main purpose of going anywhere is to provide a backdrop for a curated social media image of yourself, not for the actual experience of being there. Vapid is exactly what it is.

Just to clarify it’s not about people taking a quick selfie - it’s the people who think that the attraction is their personal photoshoot backdrop and prevent other people enjoying it in the way they should be allowed to

I've just been on holiday (to spain) in the town there was a small archway that had a gorgeous view over the sea. Lots of people stopped to take pics of the view and/or themselves in the archway
DD (19) asked me to take some of her, there. I thought we were going to be there all day because I would take a burst then she would look at them and decide she or i needed to be standing in a slightly different position or i needed to hold the phone differently! We were mindful of other people and waited until no one was passing or wanting their own pics, and we were probably there 5 minutes, but I honestly couldn't be faffed trying to get the perfect pic like that. (She did take a lot of pics of scenery too, and took a sketchbook to do drawings and paintings of birds, views, foliage etc)

Someone older and wiser once told me this and there is much truth to it I’ve realised as I’ve got older-

When looking back in years to come, only photos with people you know in them will matter.

Obviously there are a few here and there of an amazing view or monument but in general I’ve found that to be true. And when you are gone and your future descendants are looking at your photos, they won’t much care for any views or monuments or photos with no one in them at all.
That doesn’t mean all selfies though - someone else taking a photo from further back is far better.

It’s often inconsiderate to downright antisocial and I hate the way it seems to reflect a wider egocentrism in society- “doesn’t matter what impact I have on others as long as I get what I want”

Yes, exactly my sentiment!

They also won’t care for a million and one pictures of the same pouting face! I’m off to the f1 at the weekend and will I take pictures there? Sure, but it’s a different thing to blocking everyone who’s trying to look at a view!

Exactly this. It's one thing to take the photo before or after spending a minute or two looking at the work of art, but I don't understand those people who literally walk up, click, and walk away immediately. What's the point?

Is it a need to be seen by others as cultured and sophisticated and having to signal that on social media, rather than genuinely being interested?

It tends to be more prevalent in the major galleries/tourist sites in busy tourist spots, in my experience. I mean the type of places that crop up on "top 10 must-do when you're in X" lists. For example, I was in the Uffizi in Florence a few years ago and loads of people were more interested in capturing the moment rather than being in it. I visited the Palazzo Pitti across the river the next day and hardly anyone was doing it.