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How Self(ie) Obsessed are You?

By 27/10/2014August 5th, 2017blog, blogging, News, social media, travel

Writers have an excuse for people -watching. Research, they say.

Today, at the beach with the family, I spotted a thin young man, with his techie camera, floppy hat, long-sleeved, stylish clothing.

I paid him no mind when he took the first selfie. After all, people all across the beach were either jumping in front of someone with a camera, letting out squeals, arms raised in fake ecstasy; or fishing for selfies, waist deep in the lapping waves, selfie-rod held in firm grip, grimacing away. (Notice the women modeling on the rock in some of the pictures.)

But this man’s persistence amazed (amused) me.

He kept trying to take Selfies, with a focus to rival a fishing stork–only he didn’t remain still except to pose.

He kept skipping and scampering across the sand and splashing into the water, busier than a seagull, and possibly livelier. He had no use for the blue vistas and white sand spread out before him, other than as a background for himself, and his nascent muscles.

I’m cruel. I guess so is my family.

That man adjusted his camera and jumped in the sun for the best part of three-and-a-half hours. For all that time, in between snoozing and chatting, we snickered at him, and I took pictures. I know I should have walked up, offered to take his picture, put him out of his misery. But it was far too much fun to just lie back and watch.

Here, I bring you the man on his quest for the Perfect Selfie. I hope he got it.

Selfie-Obsessed Man on a Beach Sunday morning Thoughts

Sunday Morning Thoughts: Selfie-Obsession at the Beach!

Selfie Obsession

Jumping about in Search of a Selfie

Do you take selfies? Possess a selfie rod? How many selfies do you take in an hour/day/week/month? Have any selfie-obsessed friends or relatives? Do you think we sometimes lose the moment while trying to show off on social media?

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Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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135 Comments

  • ? you did right in not offering him your help. He could’ve asked anyone to do it but then a selfie ain’t a selfie if not taken by the self, I guess. God help such people. They don’t seem to have may life besides thier social media accounts.

  • Dude! This guy is crazy and how insane people can get. I just hate this selfie thing like anything and it’s one of my pet peeves. Ok! Once in a while I can try but give me some power, I would ban it 🙂

  • luckyjc007 says:

    I ‘m not a selfies taker…too close, and they don’t turn out very good. I prefer to take pictures of someone else, scenery, objects, etc. The guy in the pictures could have been on vacation and planned to show all his friends what a good time he had. Maybe it was the first time in his life he was on a beach…who knows, but I’m sure he had his reasons. One thing is for sure…he certainly wasn’t self-conscious! ?

  • shubhada says:

    Hahahah, this is so funny! I personally hate clicking pictures! (it might have something to do with how ugly I look in them) But I really think technology has hampered our ability to notice and appreciate the real things. People are more interested in the virtual world! Is it a good or a bad thing? I’m no one to comment on that.

  • I think I actually cried a little laughing so hard at this. XD I can just see this idiot doing this in public and think, “You are one brave S.O.B. Respect my brutha.”

  • mad nad says:

    That is hilarious. Haha! I take selfies sometimes just to be silly (especially with my dog, yes I’m one of those…) but interestingly enough I rarely share selfies on social media. The selfies I take I usually share with friends and family who live in different countries as a way to say HI! or to be funny because making funny faces can be a fun past time 🙂 …

  • I only did a Selfie when webcasting the 1st Round of the Knights of Columbus International Free Throw Basketball Championship, seen in 2011 on blip.tv, Vimeo, Viddler, VodPod, Dailymotion, You Tube and vIdeo.ie. Since then I have stayed away from it.

  • Jhoana's Jaunts says:

    I don’t take selifies, firtunately although I do have a selfie stick. I just can’t understand everyone’s obsession with the selfie.

  • Different strokes for different folks, eh? I admire the lack of self consciousness, though most are probably done for completely vain reasons. I suppose it is a bit of fun. I do wonder why anyone finds the lip pucker to be a more attractive look than a smile?! Personally, I have never taken a selfie, but likely would have been all about them when I was fifteen years younger ;P Oh, and nice article, the pics are hilarious!

  • Grace says:

    I’m way too self-conscious to jump around alone in public like the selfie-obsessed man you captured. Add he did all that in a bathing suit, too! Brave man. He could be the poster “boy” for the not-caring-what-other-people-think campaign.

  • ChristineR says:

    LOL. 😮

  • I have to admit they’re really not my thing. I took my first selfie 2 months ago (yeah, I’m SOOO behind the times. A cousin of mine had to show me how to take one properly). The beach for me is for swimming or relaxing and forgetting about technology!

  • I recently offered to relieve a couple from their selfie gymnastics and they turned me down. They actually preferred straining to take a picture. It baffled me.

  • Reblogged this on Pearls Before Swine and commented:
    Hilarious

  • loll…

  • He even has a selfie-rod! That’s amazing! I take selfies sometimes, although never with the level of enthusiasm and perseverance that his guy is showing. (Besides, if I didn’t, I’d almost never be in pictures, except for the blurry waist-high ones taken by my kids when they get a hold of a camera. That’s my excuse, anyway, and I’m sticking to it. Plus also good hair days happen so rarely, they deserve to be documented. I do not, however, own a selfie-rod, nor have I ever been tempted to MacGyver one.)

  • Hilarious!

  • Sandip Basu says:

    Aren’t we all selfies? We write blogs, post photos of us or taken by us in social networking sites, share our thoughts, but why? I think we all suffer from some sort of insecurity, a kind of fear of loneliness. In spite of being surrounded by our loved ones we want adoration and love of many peoples. I think it is human nature. Nothing wrong or obsessive in it.

  • Thank you for liking “Decorated with the Dead.” This is so funny! 🙂 I wonder what effect he was going for by jumping in the air.

    I do not like taking pictures of myself. I can barely use the cell phone I have. I recently upgraded to a cell phone with a camera, and I still have not used the camera yet. I did not know a selfie rod existed until I saw this post.

    I think you do miss out on the moment if you are busy taking selfies to share on social media. This guy does not seem to be aware of his surroundings or the other people around him. He probably did not even notice you taking pictures of him.

  • talesbytink says:

    Oh my god, a selfie rod?? I am hiding under a rock, obviously. Wow.

  • Oh my. I’ve seen this kind of behavior, but I’m a little camera shy. Selfies are totally not my thing. Or my husbands. But my youngest LOVES them. He takes the funniest shots when we’re not looking. It’s a blast, seeing the world through his eyes.

  • Damyanti, that’s so funny. It’s weird to be so absorbed with self so as to become oblivious of the beauty around.

  • Margo Kelly says:

    Oh my gosh! This is an awesome post! Thanks for sharing the pictures. 🙂

  • R4radhika says:

    I love selfies and I do take them a lot. People sometimes judge unfair. I really don’t feel we lose the moment when we capture a selfie rather it helps you to capture the moment and cherish it after a long time. Not everyone capture selfies to show off in a social Media it can be for personal collection/album. And some1 take selfie of the same thing ten times cause they wanna capture it perfectly.
    N I do hope that the man got what he wanted!

  • BellyBytes says:

    Reblogged this on CurryMeMumbai and commented:
    Taking selfies is quite an art especially when you have to take a selfie on an old fashioned phone with a uni-direction camera. Try aiming the camera at your reflection in a mirror with spectacles and posing “effortlessly” – WOW you must be a genius

  • Sonia Lal says:

    OMG Not like that! That’s taking it too far!

  • JunkChuck says:

    I do not take selfies. I’m just vain enough to think that vanity is unflattering. And let’s me honest–nobody wants to look at me.

  • What a funny post! I have never heard of a selfie rod, I’ll be on the lookout from now on. I’ve never understood why selfies have become so popular, although I am aware that to say so makes me sound old!

  • Cassandra says:

    A selfie “rod”??? Had NO idea! Cracking UP! Bless his cute little jumpin heart! <3

  • I must acknowledge your patience as Photographer, like all professional photographer, they have to wait and wait, observe and observe till they get the perfect shot…Yes, as a Writer we need to observe the things around us and keep on gazing at it to get something to write upon…You have done both as a photographer’s hat, you have brilliant captured the enactment after enactment by the protagonist acting and top of it wearing the writer’s hat you have weaved a nice little story…great post combining the power of words and profoundness of pictures…

  • Sean says:

    Me, myself and I. He should have asked you to take a pic for him. He would have saved a lot of time, that way … me, myself, and I 🙂

  • SandysJar says:

    I will admit I have taken a “selfie” but I deleted it cause it was really bad. Your blog was really funny though. I guess he needed some entertainment for the day. Has a hard time making friends maybe.

  • Kimberly says:

    I’ll admit that I too probably would have watched Mr. Narcissist with fascinated amusement. You gave me a great idea for a new poll about taking selfies! Thank you for the inspiration.

  • rama says:

    i am 55 years old, and I am a die hard selfie. As someone has already commented, it helps me to look at myself from different perspectives, different angles, different styles. I am planning to buy a the selfie rod. Also I am not satisfied with the way people take pictures of me, so I have to be my own photographer. I think with the help of the rod, I can improve my skills in self photography.
    Yeah, I know there are haters, well it is a free world, and people are free to hate whatever irritates them, I have no problems. I am also good at taking pictures of myself with big cameras too.
    For the past few days, I have been noticing a whole lot of blogs on the topic “how I hate selfies and the people who take selfies”

  • Birgit says:

    I am behind and trying to catch up. I don’t have an Ipad or I phone or tablet so when I am away from home, I am away! So that answers the question of the selfie-nope never took one. That boy is all into wanting to be the next blogger or twitter or facebook or whatever famous dude. He missed the beauty of where he truly was.

  • Anita says:

    I managed taking one recently – with an author 🙂
    I wrote a post about the experience & even attracted an anonymous hate comment about the way I look! 🙂

    • Damyanti says:

      I’m sure I would attract hate comments, too. There are a lot of selfie-advocates out there. I have to say that a selfie on occasion is not bad– I loved the one my students took with me for my farewell at school for this session. But one selfie and three hours of selfies are completely different beasts 🙂

  • I really never take them at all, but both my daughters do multiple times per day although they don’t generally post them online.

  • andreablythe says:

    I take selfies from time to time and in general I think they’re cool. For some people, it’s empowering and I’ve found it’s allowed me to look at myself in different ways, to adjust my sense of self criticism and to be more positive about having my photo taken. When I’m traveling alone, it also tends to be the only way to anchor myself in place and have proof that I was there.

    However, I do not own a selfie rod and if it takes more than a minute to do a selfie, then I’m done; it’s not worth that much effort. If I was in that guy’s shoes, I’d just ask someone to take the photo.

    • Damyanti says:

      A selfie once in a while isn’t such a bad thing. I took one for a friend back home when I was traveling and she lay sick in bed. But 3 hours of selfies while jumping on a beach only amuses me, I’m afraid :). Thanks for your input about how selfies can be empowering for some people– that can be good, if not taken to an unhealthy extreme.

  • Selfie obsessed? Not really. I may take one or two a year, and was doing that before they were even called selfies. Not much of a photographer anyway. Awesome pics! 🙂

  • calmgrove says:

    On the surface it’s strange — we snicker at strangers taking selfies but worship artists who paint(ed) self-portraits with a self-absorption which would last hours, days, even years when they revisited them. Perhaps the one requires skill, technique, patience, observation, time, effort and cost while the other … mostly doesn’t.

  • Sheila good says:

    Another fine example of our self-obsessed society. What a pity he missed out on the beauty around him.

  • When I was in Europe fifteen years ago, I recall seeing people in museums taking pictures and videos of the art, but hardly talking the time to glance at it with their own eyes. I couldn’t believe how nonsensical it was. This selfie story reminds me of that. Funny, but sad, too.

  • ...shabab says:

    I’m surprise to see the concentration of this man. He is untouched by the presence of other ppl on beach. Like our Arjun and the eye of his fish, he is busy on his own face and body frame.
    I will pray for him.
    ;>

  • bhaswatidas2014 says:

    LOL:D….I used to take selfies long back when the word “selfie” was little known…but somehow the charm has gone…or maybe I’ve become old :)…Nice post!!

  • Ananya Tales says:

    LOlzz..
    I hate taking selfie’s cos I dont look good in them so I always find someone to give my camera/phone..
    But I admit I am obsessed taking pictures !

  • Nish says:

    haha, the selfie rod is hilarious. I never saw one until recently when we went to Dubai and I saw all the girls there taking selfies with their extenders.I wish I had the guts to photograph them though 🙂

  • dweezer19 says:

    It’s kind of sad if you think maybe he doesn’t have anyone to share his down time with and maybe wants to show he is having fun anyway? That little jump cracked me up! lol

    • Damyanti says:

      It was tragic, yes. But I had too much fun watching him do those high jumps to feel sad about the whole thing. Like I said, I’m evil. 🙂

  • koolkidgamer says:

    Not a surprise. Lol, peeps be cray. peeps be cray.

  • ReGomes says:

    I was about to say that there’s only so much one can do alone at the beach, it’s either take selfies or falling asleep, but three and a half hours is just absurd.

    • Damyanti says:

      Well, you could look at the view, which was fantastic, or listen to music or read. Better still you could try to ask someone else to take your pics. But he didn’t take any of those options.

      • ReGomes says:

        That’s why I said that three an a half hours taking selfies seems absurd. I don’t think it is a problem to entertain yourself doing it for a while, and some people are really shy about asking others for help with pictures. But I repeat: three and a half hours seems absurd.

  • Topaz says:

    I’ve never really liked having my photo taken, so why on earth would I willingly take photos of myself? 😛 I do have a friend, though, who loves taking selfies (and sending them over to me) – and I nod and smile, because that’s what friends do. 😉

    • Damyanti says:

      lol I know what you mean. I know someone who odes too. I mean, these days, it is hard not to know anyone who loves selfies. 🙂

  • Such a selfie- maniac 😀
    people are so obsessed with selfie that the oxford dictionary had to call it the word of 2013 🙂

  • Erica says:

    I love the way you write! 🙂

  • Robyn G says:

    Ha ha.. Many thanks for the laughs.. and the follow 🙂

  • hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic!! 😀

  • I think my instagram must be one of the only ones with zero selfies on it…
    My wife takes selfies of the both of us when we go on roadtrips and the likes, but we generally take one and that’s that.
    Nice beach you were at!

  • Haha. I noticed selfie sticks all over the place when I was in Amsterdam and Munich (more so at Neuschwanstein). Part of a selfie’s charm is how a person’s arms are only so long… but nope, just solve that issue with a stick.

  • atempleton says:

    Too funny. “What did you do today?”. “Oh, I looked at myself, and looked at myself, and looked at …”

  • Thank you. This article, and the unknown young man and his selfie-search made me smile.

  • Well, I don’t like to take selfies. Recently, I bought a cheap selfie monopod on the roadside, but I use it to for capturing my handiwork and even mini projector ;D

  • C.M. Skiera says:

    That’s hilarious! Some people are so easily entertained! (That’s a lovely beach, by the way).

  • Ben says:

    what a sad, lonely pursuit.

  • rwanderman says:

    Of course, you shot him for hours… how obsessed with people taking selfies are you 😉

    Nice post.

    • Damyanti says:

      lol yep– he was Still there, every time I looked up, so I did take some pics. It was fascinating to watch such obsession.

      • rwanderman says:

        Right, obsessively watching and photographing an obsession.

        As Aldus Huxley said: “it’s turtles all the way down.”

  • Once in a while, selfie is fine but I find this over-the-top behavior like some kind of obsessive syndrome some people suffer..plus, I hate this whole instagram thing, too. I dunno, perhaps I am getting old!!!hehe

  • I despise the term ‘selfie’ and I loath the act. It encompasses everything I hate about technology outside the home. I have never taken a selfie, never will. In fact it was difficult just to look at those photos you posted of someone going to extremes with it. It was funny and horrible at the same time.Cheers.

  • Three and a half hours? Wow. That’s dedication. I’ve spent hours taking photos of mushrooms and insects. No selfies for me. But I’ve been obsessed with myself in other ways, e.g., writing about my thoughts and feelings in a journal, and that can get obsessive, too. We all need reminders to look outward.

  • The Fangirls says:

    Hilarious post! And I really don’t know what it is about my generation and selfies… I think we feel the need to capture every moment that we look good and share it with friends. I have friends that will spend a good fifteen minutes experimenting with angles on the school bus(although nothing like the selfie rod guy you saw at the beach) and it puzzle me as to why. It’s one thing to take a selfie every now and then, to document a moment that’s worth it, but every hour? No. Too. Much.

    Again, your post made me crack up – it’s sometimes hilarious just to observe the strange people we see around us!

    Karina

  • Selfies get on my nerves to be honest. Especially when it’s EVERY. SINGLE. DAY…please…make it stop already. Unless you are out with friends, got a new hair cut, or are in a REALLY cool place-spare us of the selfies. We KNOW what you look like…lol

  • TC Conner says:

    Me thinks it’s a generational thing. Like bell-bottom jeans and boom boxes.

  • ccyager says:

    Selfies? I’ve not ever been fond of having my photo taken. My phone doesn’t have a camera. The times I’ve needed a photo of myself, I’ve used my computer to do it. I guess I really don’t understand what the draw is to selfies — self-absorption? Huge egos? Documentation?

    I love your photos because they show such a beautiful landscape. Your family must have the inside track on the uncrowded beach! (smile)

    Cinda

  • OMG! That is absolutely hilarious! And kinda sad 😉 As for me, I am not a fan of selfies since I can’t seem to get my nose out of the way of a good pic and then I just feel awful.

  • I try to stay behind the camera. On very rare occasions I step in front.

  • Capt Jill says:

    I don’t take selfies. I don’t really like to have my picture taken at all. I usually try to avoid it. I just don’t like to see photos of myself. It depresses me. I feel a lot different than I look and every time I see what I look like in a picture, it really brings me down.
    I like taking pictures of other things, pretty much anything other than myself (including other people).

  • I was walking about Osaka today, and so many people had those pole/stick things to help create the perfect “selfie”. We’ve become as obsessed as Madonna’s character was in “Desperately Seeking Susan” all those years ago.

  • BellyBytes says:

    Well I’m no selfie fan but I did try taking a selfie which was foolish considering my phone/camera was only one sided and I had to do the impossible – stand in front of a mirror and take a selfie without having the reflection of the phone coming in the picture and even if I try on my iPad, I find that taking the perfect selfie is quite an art…so mock not the selfie taker he is indeed practicing a new art form!

  • winterangela says:

    I take selfies when I know I look good! Why not? That doesn’t mean I’m self absorbed. But i definitely won’t do it in public!

  • Your story made me laugh aloud at my work break today. I loved it. I bet you had a great time. Selfie-guy may have refused your offer to photograph him; did you think of that? Perhaps he was on a mission..how would we know? I have to say, selfie guy is very creative (in the water) hahaha. I am on his side, why not? If he is doing something that makes him feel good, it’s ok. He is not harming anyone. He is enjoying the beach and the sea the way HE wants. There is nothing wrong with self-love. 🙂 I saw a professional photographer walk up to make a speech in the launch of the Adobe/Cloud programme and she took a selfie in front of millions of people..so? She said it was for her mother. Perhaps selfie-guy is taking this for someone special? May be some of us are not brave enough to do what he did? hahaha. Anyway, thanks for starting a good conversation.

  • alexjrankin says:

    Never come across a selfie-rod before – they look pretty stupid. As far as selfies go, I’ve taken one or two but would much rather photograph what’s in front of me, or, as mentioned above, fill the void with words instead.

  • It dawns on me what a back woods hick I am: had no idea that there are such things as selfie wands.

  • How bizarre. I bet he got a great suntan though!

  • masgautsen says:

    I’ve seen people with these selfie poles. I do not own one and as I only ever take selfies once every once in a while (not more now than before I even knew what a selfie where), I might not be one to judge the thing I don’t really understand the full concept of.

    I am a firm believer of people doing what they want as long as it does not harm others, but I must say I find this quite wierd sometimes.

  • Peter Nena says:

    I don’t take photos, let alone selfies. I was a fun of photos throughout high school. But in 2004, when I’d just joined the university, I saw a dead man on the road. A vehicle had run him down. I saw how still he was, how his eyes just gaped emptily at everything and nothing. I thought that I’d look like that when I died. Later, when I looked at my photos, I was struck by how still I was in them, how inanimate. The frozen smiles, the eyes that follow people around the house, and I started thinking that the thing in the photo was thinking about me. I realized that the thoughts I had when I took those photos were still frozen in that frame, preserved forever. I was chilled. I never took any photos again. At one time, I did not even have a single passport photo with me, yet it was required a long with my CV for a job application. I called my girlfriend and told her to take only two copies, one of which she’d keep.

  • I find this quite sad. It seems to me that he’s not really enjoying himself, but wants to look like he is to his friends on facebook or wherever he’s going to post the pictures. I do think that selfie culture is harmful as people try to out-do each other by showing off how fabulous their lives are.

  • Ema Jones says:

    Not at all a selfie lover but like being clicked along with friends & family. These days all the hard work goes in taking a perfect selfie. Hardwork for one and amusement for the others!! 🙂

  • uniqusatya says:

    hahaha…just could stop laughing at those pics you shared.Yeah people have become that obsessed 🙂
    But i still couldnt get to know how people great selfies as i am just not able to do it 😉

  • I am not really a selfie person. I recently bought a new smartphone with front facing camera, but I still prefer to take a selfie when I am with my wife, so most selfies have us both together and not me alone. I usually prefer someone to take our picture.

  • He probably got home and looked at his photos and found there were hundreds of his own face. Hopefully a wake up call for the poor kid

  • Can I use these pics in an article on selfie culture on my blog?

  • Oh god. Really?! Dude, you are going to doing that? Who ARE these people?!! It’s like the are aliens from another planet. In a way it makes me feel old. This is an affliction of anyone born after 1990 in a digital native world. But the amount of sheer self-obsession and complete lack of self-awareness is so breathtaking. It could also be read in another way, it reeks of loneliness and a need to be affirmed in life by one’s social media accounts. He is making and performing a pretense of having a life, like an actor in a cleverly arranged film scene. Sad. sad. sad.

  • Andrew says:

    I think I’ve taken one, ever, and it was only because I needed a picture right then and no one was home.
    But it’s become a selfie culture.

  • Menaka S. says:

    You are right! We lose the moment in taking selfies and in taking photos, in general. When we go to some nice scenic place for vacation, I find it amusing to see scores of people not enjoying or taking in the beauty of the place, but more concerned about clicking pictures…Can’t we just let ourselves experience the moment? Do we have to preserve it? Can’t we preserve it in memories?

  • sundryfolly says:

    I really dislike the selfie rod, especially when the owner is surrounded by numerous people who could easily take his or her photo. It seems a bit anti-social to me.

    Two nights ago I attended a Fireworks Festival in Busan. There were thousands of people on the beach. I watched on in amazement as two girls in front of me spent 10 minutes taking selfies with the rod. Couldn’t they just have asked the person in front of them to take their photo? I don’t get it.

  • macjam47 says:

    No, I don’t take selfies. It seems that it’s mostly a younger person thing. Everyone my age shies away from any camera, including their own.
    By the way. It’s a good thing I wasn’t there. I would have laughed until I was hoarse. I’d have been truly obnoxious.

  • markbialczak says:

    First the selfie at arm’s length. Then the selfie rod. Good God, that’s awful. You can get arrested for that if somebody called that in on their cell phone in some states. ‘Officer, I’d like report a young man bouncing around the beach with is selfie rod in front of my whole family …”

  • rumadak says:

    Hehe!! I, and some of my friends , love being clicked. And TBH, we do click selfies as well :), but not on a beach like this and not for hours. We just keep clicking until we are satisfied with the click!! But yeah, I have never had a solo selfie for me… Guess, should try for one now !!!

  • Dan Antion says:

    I avoid selfies like that. I do sometimes set a timer on a camera and point it at me and a family member but I don’t consider that a selfie. I think there’s something wrong with that guy.

  • Vicky says:

    I take maybe two or three selfie’s a week, depending on the situation – if I am wearing a new outfit, am particularly proud of my hair or make-up, it deserves some chronicling. Sometimes I do the “this is what I am drinking” selfie if I happen to be at a restaurant drinking something tasty… Sometimes the “me and my kids” selfie… But mostly, I prefer not to. I hate the selfie craze, but am not ashamed to say that I sometimes get into it 🙂

  • That is hilarious. I’ve never seen anyone doing that. I’m going to start looking for it.

  • Reblogged this on Real Life, Creative & Unscripted and commented:
    Sunday Shares…amazing post from one of my friends…

  • Selfie are cool…if done ONLY once a week. Second I got one of those pole about 5 years ago before selfie was even a name…It was called vlogging, video logging via I am a Youtube Video Creator that shared my life on the small screen and reach millions around the world, just as how I blog… But yup it seems everyone is in SLEFIE MODE these days….Technology gave us a tool and we use it, RELIGIOUSLY. smh…. Great post…. LUV YA

  • I’ve never heard of a “selfie rod”. LOL I have some selfies…some which make it to my FB page and some do not. I also have “ussies” of me w a friend or my pets. Hopefully I’m not ridiculous about it.

  • I think selfies are a joke. Who really wants a picture of himself? That is so creepy.
    Although like you, I would’ve been amused.

  • Ha ha! These pictures make me laugh as he is so consumed by taking selfies that I wonder how much he really enjoyed his day in the water. On the other hand, maybe he was taking pictures for his terminally ill family member; so, they, too, could imagine themselves frolicking through he waves…maybe. As far as selfies, I don’t like them, because the iPhones make my face appear fat and oblong when the camera is inverted. So, if I ever need a profile shot, which is not too often because I’m not real hip on personal shots, I have someone else take the pic. (No offense means to the selfie-taking-loves out there!) 🙂 However, I am usually the photographer, and my canvas is just, more often than not, filtered by and consumed with scenery, family and adventures instead of self.

  • glenn2point0 says:

    Not a selfie person at all. rarely have my pic taken and even more rarely a selfie!

  • Ashley says:

    Ugh, I loathe the word ‘selfie’ as well as the public acts of them.

  • April says:

    How funny! I actually just made an Instagram account last month to start taking selfies, because I never have. I’m up to 18 in five weeks, so not record-breaking in any way.

    But at the beach?? We lock our phones in the glovebox.

  • D.J. says:

    I have more of a “photo shoot” as I like to call it. I make sure my house is clean, and I set up my camera to take pictures. I choose the best one, and use that as my “selfie”. Though, this avatar you see, is an actual selfie from February. I was being silly that day.

    ~~DJ

  • Carrie Rubin says:

    To think of the wonders of nature he missed out on while staring into his camera! A “selfie rod.” Super. Just what the world needs…

  • I usually take selfies with the grandkids. Occasionally I take some when I’m having good hair day. But not too often. Self videos to blog I’ll do.

  • Oh my that’s really very funny he is literally up in the air wow! I hate having my photo taken period so selfies hold no draw for me lol x

  • But first… let me take a selfie!
    I guess yea, watching other people do it, it’s hilarious and gets you questioning ‘are you really enjoying the water? or do you just want facebook to think you’re enjoying it?’
    I myself am guilty of selfies – however I don’t post them all on FB… that’s what Instagram is for right?

  • fireflyby says:

    rofl!! Selfies should only be deliberately terrible.

  • whatonomy says:

    I posted a selfie on Facebook once. Looked at it. Thought about it. Never did it again.

  • H.M. Brooks says:

    Hahaha!
    I take selfles now and then, but NEVER in public!

  • dpnoble says:

    It’s quite amusing watching peoples antics trying to take selfies. But it’s also quite sad that so many people are so extremely self centred that they have to take a selfie at major, minor and insignificant moments in their lives to share on social media. It almost seems to that if you don’t have a selfie at a major monument or event then you can’t have been there. There is so much of this world to miss if ones becomes that self absorbed. I stopped taking lengthy videos of my kids in school plays, school sports etc… Because I was missing the actual event by concentrating on getting good footage – the same applies to selfies. A selfie rod? That seriously exists? Narcissus was born in the wrong millenium!

  • Not a lover of selfies or any form of picture taking. Seems the chap is a bit self absorbed, certainly not shy 🙂

  • Rachana says:

    I like taking selfies on my iPhone but I usually do it with friends because when I look back at the photos they have more significance than me just smiling at the camera randomly…at some point in my life…

  • shoreacres says:

    I never have taken a selfie. I don’t have a camera capable of taking a selfie, and my flip phone certainly won’t do it. A selfie rod? All I can say is hurrah for the entrepreneurs who are cashing in on narcissism. More power to them.

  • rod says:

    This man rivals Narcissus.

  • As one who is photogenically-challenged, I stay away from the selfie. Words, not photos, for me. A picture is worth a thousand words? I have a lot of writing to do to make up for the lack of selfies.