UK attractions ban selfie sticks due to ‘elf and safety’ fears

 It was reported this week that a number of UK visitor attractions are following American example and banning selfie sticks. A number of reasons have been cited for the bans, including potential damage to gallery artworks or museum exhibits and disruption or health and safety fears for other visitors. So while there are hotels offering the loan of a selfie stick when you stay and lessons on how to use the accessory, sadly, it looks like we have to wait until we have the power of Beyoncé and Jay Z to be able to replicate their infamous private visit to the Louvre last year.

Mobile network Three, has teamed up with footballer turned actor, Vinnie Jones to promote Spain as the latest destination to be added to its ‘Feel at Home’ service by teaching Brits key Spanish phrases before heading off to Spain this summer. The service allows users to use their phones abroad in select destinations with no extra charge. The publicity video has amassed just under 200,000 views in its first week, with viewers now able to include ‘Hola cielo ¿cómo te va?’ (Alright sunshine, how you keeping?) and ‘¡Eh, tío! Ven aquí para que salgas en este selfie’ (Oi, come over here and get in this selfie mate) in their holiday banter.

Topshop is staying ahead of the game when it comes to harnessing the power of technology and social media. The retailer has unveiled a partnership with Twitter which will allow customers to shop the trends as they happen. As the fashionistas flock to the capital for London Fashion Week, shoppers can ensure their wardrobe is in keeping with the new season offerings thanks to this new innovation.

Over five days of shows, the brand will be analysing real-time data on Twitter and picking out the trends as they happen on the catwalks. Those trends will then be instantly beamed onto digital billboards, complete with Topshop’s selection of corresponding products, across London, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Twitter users who tweet @topshop using a trend hashtag will receive a reply with a curated list of products to match the trend. In addition, customers who visit the flagship Oxford Circus store will not only be able to watch the Topshop Unique catwalk show live in store but will also be encouraged to tweet reviews of the show to win tickets to next season’s show and prizes from a Twitter vending machine.

And finally, a new psychoanalytical tool which works on Twitter is set to open the doors to our hidden personality traits wedged into our 140 character tweets. The app was created by psychotherapist, Dr. Sandra Scott, alongside wine brand Apothic to reveal users’ dark sides via their use of social media. The tool will allow users to discover aspects of their personalities that they aren’t necessarily aware of, including whether they are passionate, egotistical, materialistic or mischievous. Scott’s research has shown that 29% of women are likely to be passionate and 26% of men are likely to be materialistic; while 27% of Glaswegians are egotistical. 

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