Graduates at the University of South Florida and Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., have been asked to refrain from taking self-portraits with their cell phones as they collect their diplomas.
The seemingly simple directive against “selfies” is standing out for placing the slightest curtailment on a collective societal march toward sharing every waking moment on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the like.
Kyra Ciotti, a 22-year-old mass communication major at USF, has taken selfies lying in bed, riding in a car, posing with her dog, taking a shot of tequila and whenever she feels her hair is having a particularly good day. She had planned to keep her arm extended as she walked across the stage at a ceremony Friday, capturing the moment for a sister in Australia.
Now, chastened by the university’s admonition that it’s improper and fearful of a threat to withhold diplomas, she’ll keep her phone away.
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” she said as she posed on campus in her cap and gown for some early graduation pictures. “But I don’t want to be disrespectful.”
For others, the simple act of outlawing selfies may have sparked the desire for one.
Anthony Sanchez, a 22-year-old microbiology major at USF, said he’s only taken a few selfies in his life. But he’s not ruling out another at this weekend’s ceremony.
“It put the idea in my head,” he said. “I wouldn’t have thought of it until they said don’t do it.”
Administrators at both USF and Bryant said their intentions were far less dramatic than making a statement about a generation often accused of oversharing. They said they were simply trying to keep already long ceremonies from dragging on even longer.
“It’s your moment in the sun right next to everyone else’s moment in the sun,” said Michael Freeman, the USF dean of students who issued the guidelines saying selfies were banned along with marching, strolling and other fanciful methods of accepting a diploma.
Sheila Guay, the special events director at Bryant, said selfies would take away from the ceremony and ruin photos that family members try to capture.
She echoed Freeman, saying: “There is a time and place for them, and here is not one of them.”
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