The New York Times recently said something you've probably noticed in recent years: selfies with famous people are replacing autographs of famous people. Five years ago, singer Taylor Swift called autographs “obsolete” in an article she wrote for the Wall Street Journal, and the phenomenon has probably only widened since then. It happened for reasons that you can imagine: almost everyone now has a smartphone, cameras continue to improve, social networks allow you to share photos and a photo with is objectively a better memory than a signature of. Given these premises, the New York Times focused on how things work for those who allow selfies, often taking first-person photos. The article is titled “Inquadra. You smile. Shoot. Repeat “and talk about how this selfie thing is experienced by the US women's soccer team.
The players of the US national team are the strongest in the world – they have won the last two editions of the World Cup, and four of the last eight – and among the most famous US athletes. In the United States, women's football is in fact quite popular, certainly more than in Italy, which contributes significantly to their fame. The striker Alex Morgan, the highest paid American footballer, is followed on Instagram by over 9 million users, more than those who, for example, follow Mario Balotelli. The New York Times writes that it is very important for Morgan and her teammates to be perceived as close to the public, even when it comes to selfies, to help the entire women's football movement grow.
Thanks @ alexmorgan13 for the famous pre wrap head band and this selfie. AO Hartford loves the uswnt pic.twitter.com/60TrYZA3OS
– Meg Kuch (@megkuch) July 30, 2018
Andrew Keh, author of the New York Times article, said he witnessed the “Frame. You smile. Shoot. Repeat ”after a friendly match played in January in Alicante, Spain, between the United States and Spain. She wrote that it was an “advanced lesson in managing the queues of people who want selfies” and that the footballers, aided by some staff members, were able to take “dozens of selfies in series and at high speed”. On closer inspection, it is the same story that Emanuele Lauria made in Repubblica in the article “Salvini and the assembly line of 1,500 selfies a day”.
Whether it's Roger Federer, Matteo Salvini, Taylor Swift or Alex Morgan, the fact is that the people with the most selfie experience are the ones who get asked to take selfies, and they end up in hundreds of photos a day.
The first thing to know is that, as American footballers have said, it is often famous people who take selfies. Because they are more used to it, and therefore more agile in their execution. Sam Mewis, midfielder, said that if she does not take the situation in hand, that is the smartphone, “the children turn to their parents and ask them to take a picture of us; and parents are clumsy ”, wasting time and frustration for those waiting in line. However, Mewis admits that he has an iPhone and that “when they give me a phone that isn't an iPhone, I don't know how to do it.” Sometimes it also happens, she explained, that someone gives her a phone in which the unlock code has yet to be entered, which jams the whole procedure.
Rose Lavelle, another midfielder, complained that often, usually when she is on the pitch and the spectators are in the stands, “the angle of the photo is bad.” But he added: “The photo isn't for me, so that's okay.” Abby Dahlkemper, who plays defense, explained that the only thing she focuses on is not dropping the phones given to her.
Emily Sonnett, also a defender, complained a little that selfies, even if done quickly, take longer than autographs. Sonnett explained that there are three basic rules to follow when taking a stadium selfie. First: try to increase the vertical angle of the photo as much as possible. Second: try to avoid photos with “direct sunlight”. Third: since you don't always remember who the phone you are taking a picture of is, try to frame as many people as possible, hoping that among them there is also the owner of the phone. Consequence of the third rule, not taken into consideration by Sonnett: in the coveted selfie with the footballer of which one is a big fan, the owner of the phone could find himself together with some other unknown.
In all of this, despite Swift having written in 2014 that she hasn't had any autographs since smartphones with front-facing cameras arrived, American footballers also continue to do autographs. “Some still want them,” wrote The New York Times: “And there are staff members who keep permanent markers handy for those who need them.”
