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‘Selfie’ at memorial service goes viral
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US President Barack Obama may have moved the masses attending Nelson Mandela’s memorial service with his stirring eulogy on Tuesday, but it was his grinning “selfie” with the Danish and British premiers that set social networks abuzz.
In a candid moment captured by photographers, Denmark’s Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand, as they pose for a picture with David Cameron, all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto’s World Cup stadium.
First lady Michelle Obama, sitting to the left of her husband, does not join in with the lightheartedness, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the podium where world leaders were paying tribute to South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero.
The so-called selfie — short for self-portrait — was quickly picked up by international news outlets and went viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of mirth was appropriate for the occasion.
“There should be a moratorium on ‘selfies’ during memorials and funerals, no?” tweeted @JeffryHalverson.
“Is This The Most Important Selfie Of 2013?” headlined the US-based social news website Buzzfeed, noting that Michelle Obama seemed “not amused.”
The photo featured on the front pages of British media such as The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror.
In the United States, the Washington Post also ran the photo on its website.
“Even the best-laid plans of politicians tend to veer wildly off course in this age of social media,” the Post story said.
Asked about it in Parliament, Cameron said amid laughter from lawmakers that Mandela brought people together — so he thought it “only polite to say yes” to a request for a photo from Thorning-Schmidt, daughter-in-law of former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.
The White House made no comment and there was no immediate reaction from Copenhagen.
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