Selfie Sticks Being Banned In Public Venues

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Selfies are rising in popularity, there was a time where nobody wanted to be taken in a photograph. You would pull the camera out on Christmas day and people would start hiding. However now, in the social media age, the popularity of selfies is rocketing.

In fact selfies have become so popular that we now have selfie sticks which are designed to help you take the perfect selfie if your arms simply cannot stretch far enough. These selfie sticks are not a rarity either, quite the opposite as selfie stick craze sweeps around the world.

With selfie sticks becoming more prominent now than what they have been over recent months, major venues around the world have started to ban the use of selfie sticks in order to protect both visitors and artworks.

The NY Times reports that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is one of the latest notable museums to issue a ban on selfie sticks and they are not alone either. Several museums around the United States have followed suit and also banned selfie sticks from their public galleries. The major reason cited for the ban is that spaces are often crowded during peak times and as a result selfie sticks can intrude on the personal space of visitors.

Also, museums state that the long selfie sticks pose a threat to the artworks which are in the museum, tripods and monopods are banned from many museums so it only makes sense to add selfie sticks to that list. Australian galleries have now also followed suit and several national galleries in Australia have also decided to ban the selfie stick.

Closer to home, selfie sticks have been banned from a large number of European football stadiums and in Ireland, the point (yes I still call it the point, known as the 3Arena to the younger generation now) yesterday revealed that selfie sticks were to be banned in the arena.

The FAQ on the 3Arena website has been updated to include this.

A spokesperson told the DailyEdge.ie that the decision was made purely from a health and safety standpoint. It may have become the gadget of choice for teens after Christmas, but the backlash is finally on.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis, he is also a proud father of his bearded dragon, Lola. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here.