So I’m looking for things to write about. I see a picture of a Hilary Clinton rally. This one photo shows what technology did to us.
The picture shows hundreds of people, most of them young adults, have their backs toward Hilary Clinton with their smartphones out. They’re taking selfies, simultaneously. There is a barrier between Mrs. Clinton and the crowd, and the Democratic presidential candidate is waving. It looks like she’s waving for the selfie taking crowd, not to get their attention. The photo was taken by Hilary For America. It was taken by campaign design leader Victor Ng and posted on Twitter. Looking at the photo, the selfie takers didn’t care if they got a picture of Hilary Clinton or not, just as long as they were in the photo. There’s a blogger named Technically Incorrect who wrote a poem about this tragedy of a photo. Incorrect said “If we want to be seen with you, we’ll turn our backs to you.?We need to attach ourselves to your fame…That way, we achieve our own sort of mini-fame. Technically Incorrect made other valiant points as well.
Remember the 2014 Oscars, when Ellen DeGeneres took the selfie with movie stars? That was one of the most shared moments in social media history. And that was actually a planned promo of a Samsung smartphone. But this picture was no accident, no promotion, no planned stunt. This was real life. This was a real example of what technology can do to us as human beings. I can see if the smartphones photos toward Hilary Clinton. But they weren’t. The crowd pointed the phone at themselves. I could maybe see a selfie of a person shaking hands with Mrs. Clinton. That would be a good selfie. But this? This defies any logic or dignity. Personally, I hope those young people are embarrassed to be seen in this selfie laced photo. I’d be embarrassed to be seen like this. I’ve been to public gatherings where famous people spoke and performed. I’ve taken pictures. But the pictures were of the celebrity, not of me admiring the celebrity! What is 2010s technology doing to us?