‘Black Mirror-esque’: Sea of phones at Carnaby Streets Christmas lights switch-on sparks huge backlash

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EastEnders legend laments situation as hundreds watch Christmas lights and fireworks event through their phones

An EastEnders legend has joined a huge backlash over footage showing a sea of phones at the Carnaby Street Christmas lights switch-on in London’s West End.

Hundreds gathered to watch the event on the evening of November 4, which helped to kick off the capital’s preparation for Christmas.

Video shared online appeared to show most people recording the lights and fireworks on their mobiles, rather than taking it in with their own eyes.

A clip uploaded to Instagram by BBC London has attracted thousands of comments bemoaning the situation.

Former EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy wrote: "Why is this piece not mentioning the fact that no-one is looking through their eyes at this beautiful display? It's really scary and depressing."

Another wrote: "Remember when we used to look at stuff directly with our eyes? Those were the good old days.”

Another comment read: “Not one of those videos got watched and everyone missed the moment”.

Many of the comments compared the situation to dystopian anthology drama Black Mirror.

Many studies have been conducted to understand the impact on our memories when recording events via photos or films, since camera phones became to widely owned.

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