Selfie Stick: Handy Tool or Deadly Weapon? Code Media Weighs In. (Video)

Back in the olden days — I’m talking 2014 — we had to stretch our arms out super far to take our selfies. And we were grateful! Because before that, we didn’t even have front-facing cameras and had to snap like six photos before getting one that wasn’t a closeup of our graying temples.

But now, there’s the selfie stick. And while they’re so popular that fancy hotels lend them to guests, museums like the Met in New York have banned selfie sticks completely. Is the phone-ographic monopod a terrific way to fit more friends in a group shot without risking theft by “helpful” passersby, or is it a “wand of narcissism” that could, in a pinch, power some kind of solipsistic off-road rage?

Who better to ask than attendees at the Code/Media conference at The Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif.? Video below:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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