Recently a debate has been sweeping through museums throughout the world: should we allow the use of the new and wildly popular camera technology, the selfie stick? For those unfamiliar, selfie sticks are telescopic monopod devices that allow users to take selfies at more flattering and comfortable angles. Many museums, including the Smithsonian group, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Modern Museum of Art (MOMA), the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Cleveland Museum of Art, have decided to ban selfie stick use in their galleries, citing concern for the safety of museum objects and guests. A chain of emails I received last week concluded that they will be banned at the LBJ Library as well.
While I wholeheartedly agree that the safety of museum collections is paramount, what I don’t like about these debates is the tone of contempt anti-selfie-stickers assume. Wendy Malloy, Director of Public Relations for the Seattle Museum of Art, cited the “obnoxiousness factor” in the decision to ban selfie sticks. Some have coined the term “Narcisstick” to emphasize the narcissism of selfie culture. In the email I received, someone said (paraphrasing) “something with such an obnoxious name should be destroyed, not just banned.” This contempt for a useful, if frivolous, simple invention reminds me of the general contempt I often encounter towards new technologies, new ways of communicating, and basically anything millenials seem to like. Museums are struggling to keep up with modern trends, and are often perceived to be stuffy, boring, and no fun. We all know that isn’t the case, but museums aren’t helping themselves by spouting condescension and vitriol over a popular sharing tool.
The Centre for Computing history has taken to encouraging patrons to bring and use selfie sticks in the museum, mentioning their value both as tools for visitor engagement and for attracting new visitors through social media sharing. While this model can’t work for every museum – like I said, the collections come first – toning down the contempt is a good first step for museums trying to stay current.
Personally, I’m still on the fence about the selfie stick, though my parents got me one for Christmas. If other people use it, I don’t have an issue with it. I’m not sure why people get so angry over others using the selfie stick… People were taking selfies before that tool was invented and I admit, I like the distance it gives you, compared to just holding your arm out as far as you can. As for museums banning it, I can completely understand their concern over it – Maybe if they allowed it outside but people would have to put it away if they are inside looking at collections?
I totally agree that selfie sticks should be banned in museums. It seems like the reason is pretty obvious. Even without a ban, I am surprised (I guess I’m not actually; people can be pretty dense) that people would even think that bringing one into a museum or gallery would be appropriate.
Also interesting to think about museums being typically high-brow, and selfie sticks being very low-brow (correct me if I’m wrong). You’d think those worlds wouldn’t collide.