Lochness Selfie

The annual Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland is offering 50,000 euros, or 75,000 American Dollars for any runner in the marathon who can snap a selfie with the Lochness monster. The company was inspired to do this after they noticed the abundance of runners stopping to admire the lake and take selfies with it in the background. The selfies will be submitted to a zoological panel who will determine the validity.

Want to win £50,000? Just get a selfie with the Loch Ness Monster (and run a marathon)

Houston we have a selfie

As annoying as selfies can be, this selfie of astronauts in space is downright awesome and hands down one of the best selfies out there. Taken with a go pro, the selfie shows astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts going on a spacewalk to make repairs at the International Space Station. The selfie is part of an hour long video taken by the astronauts on the go pro simply showing them making repairs but the video is beautiful and has scenes of Earth and outer space. If you’re going to take a selfie people, this is the way to do it. This selfie brings Kim Kardashian duck face selfies to serious same.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/02/astronauts-spacewalk-re-wire-iss-commercial-crew/

Apple Bans Selfie Sticks

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/14/technology/apple-selfie-sticks/index.html?iid=HP_River

In an announcement about their WWDC Developers Conference, Apple also released that no selfie sticks will be permitted at the event. Apple reports: “You may not use selfie sticks or similar monopods” at the event, Apple’s policy reads. “Any attendee conducting these activities may be removed from WWDC.”

So, why not? Some suggest it is for liability purposes and to avoid any injuries that could be caused by people swinging these things around. Some speculation suggests that Apple ousted the selfie stick from their event because they are simply a nuisance. And to this speculation, #stoptheseflie says: hooray!

We agree, Apple. These accessories are obnoxious and unnecessary, and we’re behind you all the way. One small step for Apple, one large step to #stoptheseflie.

East Village Explosion Leads to Internet Explosion Over Selfies

An explosion last week in NYC’s East Village leveled out two buildings and killed serval people. While many bystanders took to helping the injured people and cleaning out rubble, other people took a different approach and used the crime scene as a backdrop for you guessed it: selfies, selfies, and more selfies. Tourists flocked from the usual tourist traps to the East Village to snap a selfie with the crime scene. As if the incident wasn’t tragic enough, one group of women in particular brought their selfie stick and took several smiling selfies that caused the internet to go up in arms.  One woman by the name of Jamie Frevele (@jamiefrevele ) tweeted: “PSA: Don’t be this person. Ever: Tourist Takes Smiling Selfie From East Village Explosion Site”. Another twitter user,  Bernard Wright (@MannyCara) tweeted: “I hope those 8 @nypost #villageidiots feel SOME remorse now, but they used a selfie stick at an explosion site, all they care for is ‘Likes.”

http://gothamist.com/2015/03/28/please_dont_take_a_selfie_outside_a.php

Selfie + Fire = No

A young couple from Connecticut learned firsthand how selfies take you out of the moment last week when they attempted to take a selfie near the scene of a fire and were soaked by a nearby fire hose. This video supports claims that the number of selfies taken at extremely inappropriate times are on the rise as we also saw in the President Obama funeral selfie. As we have argued before, selfies take people out of the moment and distract them from everyday life. If this story doesn’t deter you from taking selfies at inappropriate times, I don’t know what will.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/you-shouldnt-take-selfie-front-5369934

Selfies at Funerals are the New Black

Last year, the world lost an international icon and leader, Nelson Mandela. As hundreds gathered to mourn the loss, one event stole the stage: The selfie of President Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron,  and Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt that quickly went viral. The photo was seen as highly disrespectful and immoral by many parties but some agreed that the photo merely served in memoriam of such a special and solemn event. Some researchers backed up the claim that the photo was meant to be respectful by the fact that they seem to be simply documenting a special moment to be seen by the world. Michael Arnold, a senior lecturer in the University of Melbourne’s history and philosophy of science program later stated, “In the vernacular of Instagram, it’s not representational art; it’s a community act,  it’s a communication that seeks to bring the funeral to the network and the network to the funeral.”

There seems to be two sides to the argument regarding this selfie: is it an international sign of mourning meant to show the world or is it downright disrespectful to take a selfie at a funeral?

PS Michelle definitely does not approve