A Chinese YouTuber falls into the void. Another intergalactic genius sticks his head in a microwave and nearly gets crushed by quick-drying cement. Likes, views, the daily dose. Some people don't know when to stop. The search for the perfect selfie follows a similar line. A recent study from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences reveals new data: between October 2011 and November 2017, 259 deaths were recorded in 137 selfie incidents, including drowning, falls, transport, firearms and electrocution. What's wrong with us?
Duck faces. Countless bathroom mirrors. Untouched plates of food. Any time and place. The members of the "smartphone generation" are completely obsessed with taking photographs, especially of themselves. What are they looking for with selfies? Instant gratification, recognition, hearts and likes. While one can understand why they insist on absorbing those small dopamine hits, it is simply absurd that selfies have become a risky activity. Hard to believe? In reality we have already talked about statistics of selfie-related deaths, but a study from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences only expands those data.
Selfies, with rising mortality
Selfies caused a total of 259 reported deaths worldwide between October 2011 and November 2017, divided into 137 incidents. The number increased dramatically during the last two years of the measurement, with 98 lives lost in 2016 and 93 in 2017. Another aspect to highlight is that 72.5 percent of the deceased were men, which confirms the tendency of the male group to seek more extreme selfies. 70 of the deaths were related to drowning, 51 to transport incidents (for example, standing on train tracks), 48 to falls, and 48 to fires. Geographically, India leads the list with 159 deaths, followed by Russia with 16 and the United States with 14.
Even worse is the age factor. 106 of the deceased were between 20 and 29 years old, and 76 belong to the 10 to 19 age range. Now, the problem is not the selfie itself, because there are other things that kill more people per year (bees and wasps combined claim an average of 58 lives annually), but people insist on taking unacceptable risks so that that photo looks perfect on social media. The Indian authorities believe the numbers are even higher (due to deficiencies in the reports), and they have not hesitated to declare selfies a public health crisis. Solutions? Actively prohibit selfies in the most dangerous areas, and continue educating through special campaigns.
