Is this guy is the epitome of the selfie-stick toting narcissist? Photo / Getty Images
Is this guy is the epitome of the selfie-stick toting narcissist? Photo / Getty Images
Opinion by Winston Aldworth &Shandelle Battersby
Are selfie-sticks a dangerous annoyance or are we being too sensitive? Our travel editors take opposing sides in the argument.
Winston Aldworth, Travel Editor: Sticking up for it
Being judgmental about other holidaymakers is as old as holidaymaking itself - and sometimes it's more fun. I'll happily admit to enjoying a sly snigger about the folk you meet on the road.
The much-maligned selfie-stick is merely Mother Nature's latest wayof marking out our fellow travellers for muttered derision. Selfies - and especially selfie-sticks - come in for a bit of, well, stick. I'll defend them: I'll happily snap a selfie at an interesting site and bang the thing up on social media - it's a bit of fun and one more way to talk about and document where you've been. And it sure beats a slide show for the neighbours.
Disneyland's ban comes after one visitor tried to use a selfie-stick on a rollercoaster - so they should have just banned them from rides. It's mean-spirited to shut them down altogether.
As long as selfie-stick users aren't belting someone in the face with the thing, we should live and let click.
I have a selfie-stick - though I find it a bit fiddly to use, so mostly it sits in a drawer. I'll dig the thing out now and make more use of it as a show of solidarity. Us selfie fans have to stick together.
Visitors to Coney Island use a selfie stick to take a photo with the Wonder Wheel in the background. Photo / AP
Shandelle Battersby, Deputy Travel Editor: Just stick it
Look at that guy at the top of this page. Just look at him. What a douchebag. Is he absorbing the beauty of the place he's in? No, he's worrying about getting a picture of himself in front of it. For me, this guy is the epitome of the selfie-stick toting narcissists who always seem to be in the way at tourist spots, concerts or sports games.
Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with people taking selfies (except for maybe the girl at Old Melbourne Gaol taking one with a cardboard cut-out of Ned Kelly). But when people have those sticks in their hands, not only do they look ridiculous but they become oblivious to everyone else around them in their pursuit of the best bragging image, usually for social media.
Disney is the latest organisation to ban selfie-sticks, following several safety incidents at its theme parks. Visitors now have to leave them at the bag check. Hooray for that.
Other places where they've been banned include the National Gallery in London, Moma, the Colosseum, several football stadiums, the Palace of Versailles, Coachella and Wimbledon.
If you're so desperate to get a photo of yourself or of you and your mates, why not just ask a passer-by to take one with your camera or phone?
