Dissecting the exploits of social media photographers has become a new national pastime. Just this week, Vox reported on influencers chartering a tour to a beautiful Arizona canyon on an Instagrammable rite of passage, and the New York Times chronicled models flocking to a Siberian chemical waste dump for the perfect lakefront shot.
This comes just a few weeks after Twitter lit up with a misleading, now-deleted tweet shaming people who snapped selfies at the Chernobyl disaster site. That post triggered a viral pile-on from celebrities and journalists and rabid fans of then-one-month-old HBO miniseries Chernobyl. And years before that, the public dogpiled on a group of girls who posed for selfies at a baseball game. Somewhat predictably, outlets regularly publish takedowns every time a new made-for-selfie locale pops up. (Of this I am also guilty.) All the hissing and fussing signals a common dynamic: If you’ve got a selfie stick, beware — the internet’s a got a pitchfork.
Look at these morons, I remember thinking.
The hostility with which readers treat these selfie-takers is vicious, but also relatable. During a recent hike, I came across a…
