A few days ago while browsing through Facebook, a journalist friend’s selfie with a star who had come to the city popped up on my screen. She had uploaded a collage of various photographs where she and the celebrity were pouting at the camera in quick succession. And before this, in a similar fashion another friend had posted a selfie where she had managed to squeeze in a very tall actor along with an equally tall dusky actress into the picture with her.
The pictures were well shot and also managed to establish a fair bit of envy in the viewers including yours truly. In a time when smartphones and iPads are ruling the roost, celebs and fans alike are embracing the power of technology in a big way.
Take for instance, the selfie with celeb obsessed fan Vanessa Sky Ellis who has amassed a collection of over 10,000 pictures taken with celebrities, many of them A-listers. And how did she manage this feat? By keeping a lookout for celebrities on their run to the coffee shop, on their way from an interview and event and so on. Photographs and selfies aside, it does make one think whether the simple old autograph has become redundant?
While our desi fans have not reached that level yet, they are slowly catching up.
Actress Vishakha Singh puts it this way, “Honestly, I think both are fine. A selfie is of course quicker. For me what makes a difference is the fan’s attitude.
Now for a selfie you need to come a little closer and I have had instances of people coming up to me for a selfie and suddenly putting their arm around my shoulder or getting too close for comfort which is not cool at all.
Sometimes the person will just stand next to me and click the picture and I’m like ek baar puch toh lo (ask me once). Personally, I feel a selfie is fine as it gets done quickly compared to an autograph.”
Entrepreneur Karthik Kolipaka says,
“When we look back decades ago, there used to be a time when people took autograph in books with silly little poems or pictures, quotes from celebrities. I also had one of these which I found pressed between pages of an old book recently. It was autographed by a famous comedian. Now it’s more easy to keep such memories safe and we can look at it as often as possible through photographs or in this case a selfie. It’s much easier to take a selfie instead of asking stars to take the pen and sign the paper.”
Haritha Adivi, psychology student at St Francis college for Women opines
“Before social media came into the picture. The only way to show off that you met a celebrity or your favourite actor was getting an autograph and put it out as a prized possession. But over the years, with the advancement in technology and with the addiction to social media platforms, the style of showing off has also changed. It’s not like autographs have gone out of fashion, it’s just that clicking a selfie takes a second in comparison. Moreover, you are guaranteed the number of likes on the post will increase manifold.”
IT Professional Akhil Tumma says “First of all, I’m not a fan of the selfie. Earlier, at least with an autograph,
you had the chance to speak with the star for a few minutes while he signed on the paper. But now the only thing fans want is to take a picture and leave. Plus with the smartphones, one no longer has to ask a bystander to click the picture, one can do it themselves. That human touch that came with autograph is missing.”