René Girard's theories on mimetic desire come to mind, even though I sometimes thing his thought was not as universal as some assume.

Maybe he was just describing a sickness of self-domesticated humans, or even Neoteny (babies need attention more...) finding a way to evolutionary adaptation but with large side-effects and massive selective wastage.

Or maybe resource constraints and competitive pressure within some societies make it a rational strategy to accumulate pictures of a 3 weeks' restful holiday in a one-week selfie-stick scramble.