Selfie Stick Backlash: More Places Banning Stick Usage, Are Stealthy Sticks Far Off?

More people are discovering selfie sticks, just when selfie sticks are being banned in so many different places.

The Straits Times is reporting that selfie sticks, an extendable arm that you can attach a camera-equipped cell phone or camera for different angles of a self-portrait photo, are becoming increasingly popular. However, they are also being banned from many different places, such as museums, because of the potential damage to artwork or fellow customers.

Selfie sticks, or “narci-sticks,” as they are sometimes called, can either be a single extended arm that can up to three feet, usually, or a tri-pod style that allows better static control of the camera. Selfie sticks have grown in popularity because of the different angles and size of picture they can take. However, many museums have concerns that their patrons or their art might be damaged by these devices.

The National Gallery of London, the National Portrait Gallery of Canberra (Australia), the Palace of Versailles of Paris, the Smithsonian, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York have all banned the use of selfie sticks within their walls. Most have rules in place, and the rule is being strictly enforced. The Louvre in Paris, however, is still investigating the situation.

“From now on, you will be asked quietly to put it (your selfie stick) away,” Mr. Sree Sreenivasan, chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum, was quoted as saying. “It’s one thing to take a picture at arm’s length, but when it is three times arm’s length, you are invading someone else’s personal space,” he added. The museum carries artworks that date back to centuries ago.

CNET is reporting that a few crafty persons may have found a covert way for art enthusiasts to get around these bans. There is a new product on the market called the Pop Stick, a device that can extend up to about 18 inches long to give you some of the distance you may need, but can be quickly stored (or hidden) by slapping it around your wrist, thus turning it into a bracelet. It resembles the slap-on bracelets that were so popular back in the 90s.

You can also just completely go against the flow and get a very long selfie stick. There is a Nodal Ninja Boom that will extend to 30 feet to take that one selfie with you and a few hundred of your closest friends. But, for purposes of not upsetting other patrons or museum staff, the Pop Stick will get that selfie taken. It will be available through Kickstarter later this year.

[Image courtesy of Get Dat Gadget]