PSA: Let’s NOT Take a Selfie

Recently I’ve been really irritated with the copious amounts of people looking at their phone whilst walking. I mean, I understand if there’s an important text that needs responding to, or if it’s the only time someone has to reply to emails. But, is it really so vital to respond to a Snapchat while walking in public? Wouldn’t the photo come out blurry anyways because the person is moving? No matter where I find myself, it seems that I can’t escape the danger of the selfie-taker, ready to strike at any location at any time of day. I experience this almost on a daily basis. The culprit walks up the street and I am forced to accommodate them as they meander in the middle of the already-narrow sidewalk. Okay, princess, after you. Then, there are the selfie-takers that operate in social settings, like at Taco Tuesday at Cafe D, unable to stop Snapchatting for even a second to realize that the people they’re Snapchatting are sitting right across from them. In that scenario, people should just turn to one another and actually talk face-to-face rather than through a tiny electronic device.

I hit my breaking point with selfie-takers earlier this week when I was walking through Sproul Plaza – arguably the busiest place on campus at all hours of the day – and a girl was conducting a selfie photo shoot on her iPhone, unable to acknowledge that every passerby was actively trying to avoid running into her. Having to navigate through Sproul is already complicated in itself. People walk in all different directions in order to avoid being flyered to, and yet people on their phones decide that they need to complicate the process even more by not looking where they’re walking.

This post may seem like a rant, but it’s actually a PSA for everyone who owns a phone. As I was writing this article, Time Magazine posted an article on their Facebook site about a boy who was almost killed because he was taking a selfie on a train track. I would hope that most people would have more common sense and know that it is not wise to step in front of an oncoming train, but for a SELFIE of all things, too! Is this really what the world has come to? Is communication on the cusp of becoming a hazard to people’s lives because they constantly have to be connected, no matter what the situation or location? Cell phones were created to make people’s lives easier, not to put their lives in danger. Don’t let being on the phone or taking a vain picture be your life’s top priority. Get your nose out of your device, put it in your pocket, and embrace the world that exists around you. There’s a lot more out there in the world than in your phone, believe me.