The craze of recording every moment damages your social life. A study reveals why those who film everything are excluded and no longer receive invitations from friends.
The habit of documenting every moment of daily life seems to have gotten out of hand: social media is overflowing with photos and videos of breakfasts, friends in company (of their own smartphones) and events. Now a study published on Journal of the Association for Consumer Research found that documenting concerts, shows and events can annoy those who want to enjoy the moment, with possible social costs and damage to relationships between friends.
Negative comments. The idea for the study came after reading a series of online comments on an article by New York Times dedicated to the habit of taking photos at concerts: over three quarters of users expressed negative opinions towards those who recorded videos or took photographs. To investigate this further, the researchers then conducted a series of online experiments, from which it emerged that observers tended to perceive those who documented everything as less involved in the experience; On top of this, participants said they would be less likely to invite a friend to an event if they knew they had this habit.
It’s not the smartphone’s fault. Contrary to what one might think, the type of device used for photography did not influence people’s perception: smartphones and digital cameras produced the same negative reactions. Likewise, the physical distance from the person filming did not matter, demonstrating that the discomfort was not linked to the light on the screen or a visual distraction, but to the very act of documenting the event rather than experiencing it fully.
A couple of shots and off you go. The results of the study invite us to reflect on the social effects of apparently harmless habits: “It’s not that you can’t take photos”, clarifies Freeman Wu, coordinator of the research. “We know that people will do it, but it is the size that makes the difference: taking a couple of photos at the beginning or maybe halfway through the concert and then putting the phone away and enjoying the experience does not lead to these negative consequences,” he concludes.
