If you want to take a picture of yourself and friends at a UGA football game this fall, you’d better have some long arms.
Selfie sticks, those perspective-adding metal rods with a camera phone mount, have been banned at Sanford Stadium and all other campus sporting events.
School officials imposed the ban in the name of safety and consideration for other fans who don’t want to be poked or miss Nick Chubb’s next long run.
The Bulldogs open their season against Louisiana-Monroe at noon Saturday.
Under prohibited items at georgiadogs.com, selfie sticks have taken a place between artificial noisemakers and laser pointers.
Howls are expected from fans who don’t want to have to set a timer and then scramble into position, ask a stranger to hold their phone — or be left with the dreaded arm-in-the-shot photo.
The prohibition comes at a time when selfie sticks seem to be everywhere, from concerts to landmarks to parties. Vanity Fair recently noted President Obama documented his trip to Alaska using one.
UGA, however, is just following a trend as powerful as the selfie itself.
Institutions as diverse as Disney World, Lollapaloooza and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have banned them. This week the Secret Service let it be known that selfie sticks won't be allowed at events when Pope Francis visits Philadelphia later this month.
All of which may mean that from now on, there will only be one subject in your selfies: You. And isn’t that the point?
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