Now may be the time to retire your "selfie stick" — or at least learn when it's tasteless to use it.
The New York Post's Sunday cover blasted a group of women who snapped a selfie in front of a developing tragedy in Manhattan's East Village, giving the women a blunt title: "Village Idiots."
Today's Cover http://t.co/3UObzl3ZMApic.twitter.com/iceVaaw2f9
— New York Post (@nypost) March 29, 2015
The photo popped up on Twitter in the aftermath of a massive Thursday explosion in New York City that destroyed three buildings, injured dozens and started a fire.
Many expressed shock that the septet of smiling ladies would pose for a selfie as fiery chaos raged behind them.
Friday night #eastvillage@evgrievepic.twitter.com/8OpG1d6mPy
— EventPhotosNYC (@Eventphotosnyc) March 28, 2015
Please tell me this isn't real and is in fact a cleverly photoshopped parody of awful Millennials. pic.twitter.com/cjGM0Bck8i
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) March 28, 2015
Selfie culture must be destroyed pic.twitter.com/4zot1pVZXu
— Zach Hanover (@zhanover) March 29, 2015
The people gracing the Post's cover weren't the only one snapping selfies in front of the flames — they were joined by Christina Freundlich, who reportedly took a selfie in front of the fire Thursday and then set her social media accounts to private when the backlash hit, and a Univision reporter who had to put himself in the picture.
A reporter for @Univision snaps a selfie while covering East Village fire pic.twitter.com/ghuqyNPrEW
— Matthew Chayes (@chayesmatthew) March 26, 2015
The reactions on Twitter to the selfie-takers seemed uniformly negative, and many praised the Post for its "epic selfie shaming."
Epic selfie shaming. Give the Post the public service Pulitzer right now. RT @nyposthttp://t.co/YDWlRqjDVIpic.twitter.com/CD8HX0ncpz
— J. Freedom du Lac (@jfdulac) March 29, 2015
(H/T: Mediaite)
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