But first, lemme get my selfie stick

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Written by Madi Rupp

When the modern day selfie has taken over all forms of social media, how could someone not come up with a new way to improve the selfie? I first encountered a selfie stick when my mother (yes my mother also uses a selfie stick), sent me one in the mail as part of my birthday present in September. My parents currently reside in Seoul, South Korea, and selfie sticks are as available as counterfeit Chanel. Apparently selfie sticks are very popular in Seoul, and everyone uses them, everywhere!

My first experience with a selfie stick came when I was at a TCU football game. I was able to get multiple people from our tailgate in one photo, along with the rest of the tailgating lot and stadium in the background. I took the selfie stick inside the stadium and everyone was immediately asking me where they could get one, as they were all impressed.

Then, I took a road trip to Houston one weekend and shamelessly decided to take my selfie stick to the bars. While attempting to get the Houston skyline in the background of the photo of my girlfriends and myself, I noticed the uproar that started occurring around me. People were staring, pointing and taking pictures of us taking our picture with a selfie stick. A guy actually offered me $100 on the spot for it.

I’m not one that seeks attention or desperately needs the best selfie for a new Facebook profile picture, but I do love my selfie stick. I’ve used it on multiple occasions to take better pictures of all of my friends, while getting the scenery in the background, and without anyone being left out of the photo.

The best time I put my selfie stick to use was when I went to visit my family in Seoul for Christmas break. As we explored the city, there were so many picture perfect moments, and we were able to get great pictures of all four of us without constantly having to ask someone to take our photo. This was nice because no one was left out and we didn’t have to have an awkward language barrier encounter with a stranger.

When I first started using the selfie stick, my friends were all poking fun at me for even owning one. Deep down, they were all jealous. As it turns out, the popular gift many of my friends received for Christmas was the selfie stick and I saw many photos via social media of them using it with their entire family.

Does the selfie stick improve the selfie? Yes. As a female, I know the upward angle gives a better appearance of our less appealing features, but it also gives the photo a better backdrop and not just a close up of your face. I have seen some good photographs of people getting a shot of just them on top of a mountain with the ocean in the background, but I believe the selfie stick has also reinvented the group shot as well. Every time I use my selfie stick, my goal is to get the whole gang in the photo without the photo looking off-center. I am not a pro at it yet, but I intend to keep using my selfie stick wherever I go.