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Jamie Baldwin's avatar

The ancient Greeks didn’t have smartphones but they created a great myth, which is echoed in this modern phenomenon, about the power of self images to beguile us.

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Don A in Pennsultucky's avatar

Watching a baseball game on TV and sometimes it seems that everyone in the stands is holding up their phone and watching the game that way.

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Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD's avatar

Great piece. Devorah Heitner’s book Growing Up in Public on this topic is really good. Also, as kids get older and become more self-conscious, even being thoughtful and rarely asking to take their photo can feel to them like you’re always asking. I think about this because I believe my kids will want some pics of themselves once they’re older (they’re not selfie takers) but it’s quite intrusive.

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Caroline Mays's avatar

I saw Beyonce last month and the Gen Z girl next to me watched *the entire* concert on her phone screen. I assumed she was getting paid to Livestream, but whatever the reason it was very sad and made her a bad concert neighbor because she didn't want to dance or cheer or get caught up in the moment.

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