Should selfie sticks be banned from Comic-Con?

[Andrew Costa Mesa]

This is emerging as a new hot topic.  A few months ago, I saw on the evening news that many well-known museums around the world are not allowing anyone to bring in a selfie stick.  Also it was just reported today that the Coachella Music Festival will not allow any concert goer to bring a selfie stick to their event.  Just this past weekend, some people posed for a selfie photo in downtown New York with a collapsed building in the background where two people died, resulting in a backlash and online shaming against the people in the picture.

I saw countless GoPros attached to selfie sticks at last year's Comic-Con.

Are they harmless or should they be banned?

UPDATE 6/8/15:  As imcla stated at the bottom of this thread, it's official:  selfie sticks are now banned at Comic-Con.

[Chris]

Glad you included the 3rd option....

Otherwise, my answer was going to be yes just because change and new things are bad. 

[Friends of Comic Cons]

[Andrew Costa Mesa]

my answer was going to be yes just because change and new things are bad. 

Try promoting that in corporate America and you won't go far.  I know, I learned that the hard way.  But I agree with you.  I also thought it was very hokey of the presidential candidates of both parties in the 2008 election all promising "change" if elected.

Change schmange.

[Louie_rob_m]

What is the argument against selfie sticks? I don't personally have any use for one, but not sure why they would be banned.

[BadWolf]

Yes. Went to Vegas a couple weeks ago and I kept getting whacked with them, they were absolutely everywhere. Selfie sticks are a bloody nuisance. Ban 'em!

[DRWHO42]

I find the users quite funny but I think the user should be aware of their surroundings and not hit people with the sticks (which is accidental because they are not looking).

[Transmute Jun]

Maybe not banned from everywhere, but perhaps not allowed to be used on the Exhibit Floor, where it is insanely crowded? I don't think it's a big deal if people use them in line for Hall H or something like that.

I suppose they would also cause a problem during panels, blocking someone else's view. But that would be an etiquette thing, like not holding an iPad or camera/phone above your head, or not wearing a tall hat, during a panel.

[ahbbb]

I think they are ingenious idea.
But like with all things most people are reckless.
I have been swacked a few times.
Maybe you have to have a license to operate before you can walk the floor?

Or have the police put a safety ribbon them. They can be a weapon.

[justboogie]

I find selfie sticks quite useful, but I can see the harm in using them in a crowded exhibit hall. Then again, almost anything can be used as a weapon (i.e. I'm looking at you, cosplayers and crazy parents who use strollers as bulldozers!)  Just kidding.

[Louie_rob_m]

I see how it can become a nuisance with people not paying attention.  I was wondering because even if you ban the sticks, one can still take a selfie, so wasn't sure the difference having a stick makes

[admiral-lira]

Maybe restrict their use to open spaces and not during a show or put a maximun arm length to use indoors.

[alyxkat]

I see how it can become a nuisance with people not paying attention.  I was wondering because even if you ban the sticks, one can still take a selfie, so wasn't sure the difference having a stick makes

i don't think it's really selfies that are the issue, it's the sticks that are up for debate.  i imagine it's bad enough having to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way around the crowded Exhibit Floor, but can you picture having to do that with dozens/hundreds/thousands of sticks waving around in your face?  yikes!

Maybe not banned from everywhere, but perhaps not allowed to be used on the Exhibit Floor, where it is insanely crowded?

absolutely with you on that one!  not a total ban, but def on the Exhibit Floor.

[vegasndn]

I just bought a selfie stick and I don't see the harm in it. If you really want to take a pic with a lot of ppl around go ahead but beware if someone snatches your phone or knocks it out of your hand you should not complain. I bought the stick with SDCC in mind and really am thinking of getting a go pro. No I don't think you should ban them.

[Andrew Costa Mesa]

I just bought a selfie stick and I don't see the harm in it. If you really want to take a pic with a lot of ppl around go ahead but beware if someone snatches your phone or knocks it out of your hand you should not complain. I bought the stick with SDCC in mind and really am thinking of getting a go pro. No I don't think you should ban them.

I don't have a position on them one way or another.  I'm just aware that an increasing number of places and events have been banning them.  My guess is there might be a perception, rightly or wrongly, that people who take selfies of themselves in high-profile places are self-absorbed and conceited.  I don't agree with that, but I'm guessing that what those who are enacting the bans think.  The ladies posing for a pic in lower Manhattan with the collapsed building in the background where two people died come to mind.  I think there were also reports that people in the French Alps have also been taking selfies of themselves with the plane crash wreckage in the background.  It's also possible the sticks themselves could be a hazard.  Or maybe, like in the case with museums, the curators just don't want to see a bunch of tourists posing in groups in scattered parts of the museums taking pictures of themselves holding up the sticks.

[Ghost6]

As if the HUGE WB bags aren't bad enough...

Now imagine sitting in a panel with the guy in front of you holding his camera up to get a better view but blocking your view.

Walking an overcrowded floor with people stopping dead in their tracks to take that adorable photo of themselves in the middle of biggest event ever! 

Creepers making sure they get the very best angles of hot chick dressed like Wonder Woman.

Sorry all...Ban them!