The Wall Street Journal's newest columnist, Taylor Swift -- yes, that Taylor Swift -- has a message for all you old fogies out there: Autographs are so over.
"I haven't been asked for an autograph since the invention of the iPhone with a front-facing camera," Swift wrote Monday in her WSJ column on the future of music. She called autographs "obsolete."
For young people, Instagram followers are "currency," she argued. And she has a point. Instagram is the most important social network for teens, according to a recent survey by the investment bank Piper Jaffray. How are you suppose to impress your friends with a name scribbled on a piece of paper?
If anyone can tell us what the kids are into, it's their fearless leader. She's got 9.7 million Instagram followers, 41.7 million Twitter followers and 66.6 million Facebook "Likes." (Plus seven Grammys, but who's counting?)
Generally, there's nothing wrong with celebrity selfies. The only potential problem for teens -- who will someday grow up and value money -- is that you can't sell selfies on eBay. The whole autograph industry collapses if selfies become the norm.
Just be careful out there when snapping selfies with the rich and famous. A recent example comes from the Tour de France, during which spectators were stepping in front of cyclists in order to take selfies with them as they passed.