I am proud to say I have never taken a “selfie” even before the word was coined.
I don’t IM/Text and I *NEVER* talk on the phone while driving. I prefer email when I can get to it when I get to it.
I don’t FB (I have an account to look at my family’s pages but never post), I don’t twitter, snapchat or any of that stuff. I frequently forget my PDA at home and don’t even notice, except if I want to look up a price for something to get it cheaper at Best Buy.
You would think people would know: Keep as SMALL a interwebz footprint as humanly possible. No one needs to know you did a #2 at the Starbucks restaurant just now. But criminals will be happy to know you are in Cancun partying it up. Other criminals will be happy for the 2 out of 3 pieces of info they need to steal your identity (name and birthdate).
Summary: people are stupid and vain. Young people are REALLY stupid and REALLY vain.
What...you never put your camera on a rock, set a timer, then ran back and jumped into the picture with a friend or family member???? :)
Like you, I will not talk on a phone or text while driving, because I know how dangerous it is for me. I know my brain doesn’t handle phone conversation well while driving, as I don’t seem to be able to make it multi-task correctly, and it ends up using computational cycles that should be going towards driving. I have not discovered if it is like that for EVERYONE, but I suspect it is.
If my phone rings while I am in my car, I pull over if I have to answer it. If it isn’t work, I don’t answer it. If it is work, and I cannot safely pull over (there are places in my commute where I believe it is far more dangerous to leave and re-enter traffic) I will do one of two things: I will delay pulling over until I reach an area where it is safe, or I answer the call. I have to do it. If someone needs my help, it could be a serious health-care related issue that cannot wait (something like a CT Brain scan that will not appear to diagnose a stroke) so I am going to answer. If it is anyone else, I don’t answer, and just wait and call them later.
Now, I can listen to music or an audiobook with no problem. I feel that I am completely engaged in driving and the road. But talking on a phone is different, it is as if a part of your brain can’t work correctly talking to another person who isn’t in the car with you, as if it is using computational cycles trying to determine where the person is physically that you are talking to on the phone. And never mind texting. That is just the most dangerous thing ever.
But I do “technically” text while driving occasionally, and I don’t see a problem with it. I use voice technology:
ME: “Text my brother Joe.”
PHONE: “What do you want to say?”
ME: “I am almost there, at the junction of Route 1 and Route 5.”
PHONE: “You said: ‘I am almost at the junction of Route 1 and Route 5.’ Do you want to send it?”
ME: “Yes”
PHONE: “Okay. I’ve sent it.”
Then, a few minutes later, my phone buzzes at me, and I press the button under my chin and say “Read my new message.” and it reads it to me.
And so on.
The point is, when I use technology in this fashion, I do not feel impaired in my driving at all. For me, I simply can’t carry on a two way conversation with someone who isn’t physically in the car with me, and I suspect there is a biological brain function why it is not safe for me, and I don’t think I am unique in that respect. I think a lot of people just don’t face up to it.
As for stuff like Facebook, Twitter, etc. not a chance. There is something entirely too narcissistic in them. I have many friends who use it, and they tried for years to get me to sign up, and even entered a Facebook account in my name (without my knowledge) but they have all given up.