Disclaimer: This is a genuine question and I don’t want to sound condescending. I am 30 and know that Instagram has not been equal to reality for a very long time.
My girlfriend (27) and I (30) have been in southeast Asia the last three months (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand). We can’t help but notice how many photos young people shoot of themselves (or make a friend do it). I also see it happening in Europe of course, but only occasionally. In SEA it seems like every young person is (acting like) an influencer.
It happens in all kinds of places – coffee shops, malls, parks. I was surprised, but I could still understand that. Today we went to a museum and the same happened: young people walking about and only doing photo shoots. They didn’t show an interest in the art, apart from making sure it was a good background or it suited their outfit. Then they scanned the room and quickly went to the next instagrammable place.
People have been making photos for a long time, but I think this is on another level than e.g. taking pictures from a friend to keep an visual memory of a common experience. These shoots focus only on the person (and their ego) to make them look interesting and knowledgeable about art, which I strongly doubt they were.
Regardless of what I think about the behaviour, have such self centered photoshoots (not only in museums, anywhere) been going on for a long time in SEA? Or is it only occurring in the last few years? And what do you think the causes and possible effects of the behaviour could be?
Again: hope I don’t offend anyone, I really think it’s intriguing from a social and sociological point of view.
