[kawliga]

Images like that concert photo really are unnerving. Instead of actually just having fun, people have become more concerned with letting everyone know how much "fun" they're having. It's so strange to me. "See how cool I am? Aren't I special?!?!"

[grkvlt]

Or, people are actually having fun, and want to share and remember the experience. The two are not mutually exclusive, and most people enjoy looking back on a video or picture they took at a (possibly shared) event or experience, and can recreate or re-experience it that way. I think your cynical 'Aren't I special' motivation is going to be way off the mark for most of those people at the concert. How can you be special in a crowd of tens of thousands doing exactly the same thing?

[kawliga]

No one wants to ACTUALLY remember the experience / recreate it. That's purely a justification of the vanity.

And cynical? I don't think so and I'll explain why.

It goes way beyond events like this concert. It's the notion of publishing every aspect of your life just so others will notice it.

I once saw on facebook where a girl had posted an image of her family all huddled together, grievously hugging: "Just found out that my grandma has cancer." Who decides that's the time to step back and snap a photo for social media? And why, to get "likes"? Maybe add a filter somewhere in between.

My brother saw the same thing as that concert image, but at a funeral.

It's ALL to get noticement and it weirds me out.

[nosuchthing]

There's definitely a certain breed of people who get off more on showing other people that they're AT a concert/event rather then participating in the experience of the event.

It's evident that some people express little interest in the music being played, but rather enjoy taking selfies with the artists in the background.

[grkvlt]

I disagree. There are possibly a vanishingly small number of those people but, due to the high cost of concert tickets and the duration of concerts, I am pretty confident in asserting that 'selfies' taken there are merely a side-issue, and people are there because they are interested in the music and the experience. And of course the concert-goers want to record themselves and the artists, the same way you might take a holiday photograph of yourself in front of a famous attraction.

I really dislike this cynical attitude, it almosts sounds like 'these people aren't enjoying the concert properly the way I would, becuase they're taking photographs, therefore they must be there solely to take those photographs, and therefore they are inferior to me.'

[nosuchthing]

There's a wide variety of people and motives at play, and there's not cynicism in taking note of folks who are out to collect instagramable moments.

Just as many people find it more enjoyable to play with their phone instead of paying attention to their local environment, there are people who find it more enjoyable to broadcast "Look at me, I was here", rather than participate locally (many often do both, but there's a noticeable amount of folks who don't participate and only document, be it photographers, or selfie obsessives). Taggers share the same mentality. Also concerts and events in my city are often free, so it attracts a more casual audience who's bored enough to have left their house and yet not invested enough in the event to be engaged or participating.

[wongarsu]

"See how cool I am? Aren't I special?!?!"

Wasn't that always an important part of many teenager's lives? I don't think the underlying behaviour changed, just the way it's expressed. Instead of telling everyone how great the concert was (regardless of the actual experience) they can instantly upload a cool picture to instagram.

[tdkl]

It goes hand in hand with the quality of modern "EDM", compared to 10 years ago, where DJs actually played unique sets at each event, which wasn't a Beatport Top 20. They had to hunt the songs physically, so naturally more effort went into building a song portfolio, mixing sets etc. Nowadays everyone can spin a cracked Ableton and play a producer.

[nosuchthing]

great example of this is watching the way lots of people act on http://boilerroom.tv

.. not really dancing for the music or the moment, but playing to the camera feed and taking selfies with the artist in the background.