It’s the age old canard…well, if you consider over 16 years “old”, since phones with cameras haven’t really been around that long. The first commercially available one hit the market in South Korea in 2000. It wasn’t till 2002 that a US carrier, Sprint, started selling one. They were all clunky with very low resolution, less than VGA. The ability to take a really decent photo on a phone wasn’t for several more years, and true selfies, where there are cameras on the front, is only the last 6 years or so. Anyhow
(NY Daily News) Snapping a selfie proved to be more lethal than getting mauled by a shark in 2015, according to a recent report.
There have been at least 12 selfie-related deaths around the world this year —and although Mashable reported that eight people were killed by shark attacks this year, George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said the figure is actually six.
Lin Qiu — who conducted a study on selfies for Nanyang Technological University — said he was surprised by the alarming rates of people risking their lives to perform dangerous stunts like dangling from skyscrapers or posing with ammunition in order to get the perfect shot.
There have always been stunt seekers, and always will be. Same with sharks. Does the his whole selfie craze drive people to do a “hey, y’all, watch this” more than prior? It could certainly mean that a few more don’t have people around to stop them or help them if trouble occurs.
Really, though, I find this selfie craze to be overblown. Is there this deep abiding need to take a shot of yourself in a public restroom? While driving? Doing mundane things? A lot of it is simply inbred narcissism. Out somewhere cool? Great. Just took a dump and fixing your makeup? Come on, man.
Governments are actually having to take steps to protect people from themselves while taking selfies, with measures like awareness campaigns and fences. Let’s not forget that more people are actually bitten by sharks who don’t die, and that lots more people hurt themselves taking selfies than die. Is it worth it?
