Selfies… a dangerous, dangerous artform as it happens
I don’t take selfies. I don’t have the face, the patience, the face, the angle/lighting/filter knowhow, the face, the confidence, the face, and my camera on my phone is broken due to me having dropped it repeatedly. Also, my face.
It turns out, this is a good thing and might just help keep me alive into my 30s after the news that a staggering 259 people have died taking ‘extreme selfies’ between 2011 and 2017 according to a global study.
Researchers at the US National Library of Medicine are now suggesting that ‘no selfie’ zones should be installed in spots where people try and take dangerous selfies to stop instances of death… by selfie.
Many of the deaths occurred at sites such as the tops of mountains, tall buildings, cliffs and lakes. The report also reveals many instances are not, or underreported.
For instance, in July this year, 19-year-old Gavin Zimmerman fell to his death while taking selfies on a cliff in New South Wales, Australia.
Similarly, a man named Tomer Frankfurter died in California’s Yosemite National Park in September after falling 250m while trying to take a selfie.
Selfie-related deaths were found to be most common in India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Unsurprisingly, 72.5% of the deaths were male. The number of deaths is steadily increasing each year, rising from three reported deaths in 2011 to 98 in 2016.
Stay safe out there, selfie folk. Sometimes the ‘gram just isn’t worth it.
