ArticlePDF Available

Selfies: A boon or bane?

Authors:

Abstract

Background Selfie deaths have become an emerging problem and we performed this study to assess the epidemiology of selfie-related deaths across the globe. Subject and Methods We performed a comprehensive search for keywords such as “selfie deaths; selfie accidents; selfie mortality; self photography deaths; koolfie deaths; mobile death/accidents” from news reports to gather information regarding selfie deaths. Results From October 2011 to November 2017, there have been 259 deaths while clicking selfies in 137 incidents. The mean age was 22.94 years. About 72.5% of the total deaths occurred in males and 27.5% in females. The highest number of incidents and selfie-deaths has been reported in India followed by Russia, United States, and Pakistan. Drowning, transport, and fall form the topmost reasons for deaths caused by selfies. We also classified reasons for deaths due to selfie as risky behavior or non-risky behavior. Risky behavior caused more deaths and incidents due to selfies than non-risky behavior. The number of deaths in females is less due to risky behavior than non-risky behavior while it is approximately three times in males. Conclusion “No selfie zones” areas should be declared across tourist areas especially places such as water bodies, mountain peaks, and over tall buildings to decrease the incidence of selfie-related deaths.
© 2018 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 828
Introduction
Sele is a recent phenomenon and was named as the word
of the year 2013 by Oxford Dictionary.[1] It is described as a
photograph that a person takes of himself (or group) typically
using a smartphone likely for the purpose of sharing in social
media. Google estimated that 24 billion seles were uploaded
to Google photos in 2015.[2] About 1 million seles are clicked
per day in 18‑ to 24‑year‑old demographic. Pew research centers
have found that around 55% of millenials have posted a sele
on social media services.[3]
Technology has also promoted the phenomenon of “sele.
There are sites sharing information on “how to have a perfect
sele” and “different poses for sele.” New terms have been
introduced such as koole, restaurante, musclee, dentise, and
many more. Introduction of “sele sticks” and “sele shoe” have
enhanced obsession among people for seles.[4] These days the
choice of smart phones is based on their sele picture quality. In
addition, there are certain events held at school or college level
that promotes “seles” like the “best sele” prize.
Clicking seles and sharing them on social media has become a mode
of self‑expression. People sometimes portray themselves amidst
dangerous settings[5,6] so as to gain attention on social media sites. In
some cases, this has had fatal consequences. The rst time Google
search engine got a request for “sele deaths” in January 2014,
when the death of a Lebanonian became the tragic viral sensation
after being killed by a car bomb moments after posing for a sele.[7]
Seles are never reported as an ofcial cause of death. It is believed
that sele deaths are underreported and the true problem needs to
be addressed. For example, certain road accidents while posing for
seles are reported as death due to Road Trafc Accident. Thus,
the true magnitude of problem is underestimated. It is therefore
important to assess the true burden, causes, and reasons for sele
deaths so that appropriate interventions can be made.
Seles:Aboonorbane?
Agam Bansal1, Chandan Garg2, Abhijith Pakhare1, Samiksha Gupta1
1Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh,
2Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abs tr Act
Background: Selfie deaths have become an emerging problem and we performed this study to assess the epidemiology of selfie‑related
deaths across the globe. Subject and Methods: We performed a comprehensive search for keywords such as “selfie deaths; selfie
accidents; selfie mortality; self photography deaths; koolfie deaths; mobile death/accidents” from news reports to gather information
regarding selfie deaths. Results: From October 2011 to November 2017, there have been 259 deaths while clicking selfies in 137
incidents. The mean age was 22.94 years. About 72.5% of the total deaths occurred in males and 27.5% in females. The highest number
of incidents and selfie‑deaths has been reported in India followed by Russia, United States, and Pakistan. Drowning, transport, and
fall form the topmost reasons for deaths caused by selfies. We also classified reasons for deaths due to selfie as risky behavior or
non‑risky behavior. Risky behavior caused more deaths and incidents due to selfies than non‑risky behavior. The number of deaths
in females is less due to risky behavior than non‑risky behavior while it is approximately three times in males. Conclusion: “No selfie
zones” areas should be declared across tourist areas especially places such as water bodies, mountain peaks, and over tall buildings
to decrease the incidence of selfie‑related deaths.
Keywords: Mortality, no selfie zone, risky, selfie
Original Article
Access this article online
Quick Response Code:
Website:
www.jfmpc.com
DOI:
10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_109_18
Address for correspondence: Dr. Agam Bansal,
Room no. 213 Boys Hostel, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, Saket Nagar, Bhopal ‑ 462 020, Madhya Pradesh, India.
E‑mail: agambansal7@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Bansal A, Garg C, Pakhare A, Gupta S. Seles:
A boon or bane?. J Family Med Prim Care 2018;7:828-31.
This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to
remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as appropriate credit is
given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com
[Downloaded free from http://www.jfmpc.com on Monday, October 1, 2018, IP: 197.237.247.86]
Bhansal, et al.: Sele deaths
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 829 Volume 7 : Issue 4 : July-August 2018
Previous studies have taken data from Wikipedia and Twitter
images, which may underestimate the true number of sele
deaths. Our study incorporates the records from news reports,
thus we were able to get a wider range of information related
to sele deaths.
Objectives
The objective of this article is to study the epidemiology of
sele‑related deaths across the globe.
Methodology
Sele‑related death was dened as any accidental death that
occurs while doing self‑photography or clicking seles. Initially,
we made an exhaustive list of the English newspapers of various
countries using Wikipedia or Ministry of broadcasting of
respective countries. We performed a Google search for keywords
such as “sele deaths; sele accidents; sele mortality; self
photography deaths; koole deaths; mobile death/accidents.”
The web link addresses of the news from search results were
cross‑matched with the web links of list of prepared English
newspapers of various countries. The results that did not match
were excluded from the study.
Inclusion criteria
1. Incidents of sele‑related deaths reported in news in English
Language
2. The news report links that matched with the list of prepared
English newspapers.
Exclusion criteria
1. Sele deaths/mortality was differentiated from deaths due
to mobile phones. For example, if a person died while using
mobile phone, he was excluded from study. Only deaths while
clicking seles have been considered
2. The news reports in language other than English
3. Duplicates were identied based on date and time of event,
location of event, age, and gender of victim. The duplicates
identied were removed from the study
4. The news reports that contained statistical articles regarding
seles, opinions regarding sele deaths, or further research
on sele deaths were excluded from the study.
Results
We report a comprehensive analysis of sele‑related deaths.
From October 2011 to November 2017, there have been 259
deaths while clicking seles in 137 incidents. There have been 3
sele‑related deaths reported in 2011; 2 in 2013; 13 in 2014; 50 in
2015; 98 and 93, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. In one incident
with 48 casualities, we were unable to obtain data regarding their
age and gender. The mean age was 22.94 years with range from
10 to 68 years. About 72.5% (153) of the total deaths occurred
in males and 27.5% in females. Considering agewise distribution,
about 50% (106) of total sele deaths occurred in 20–29 year age
group followed by 36% deaths in 10–19 year age group [Figure 1].
Highest number of incidents and sele‑deaths has been reported
in India accounting for approximately 50% of total reported
followed by Russia, the United States, and Pakistan [Figure 2].
Except India, the ratio of casualties to incidents is approximately 1,
whereas it is double in India.
The causes of sele deaths along with the respective deaths and
incident cases have been elicited in Table 1. Drowning, transport,
and fall form the topmost three reasons for deaths caused by
seles. The most common drowning incidents include washed
away by waves on beach, capsizing of boats while rowing, clicking
seles on shore while not knowing how to swim, or ignoring
warnings. Similarly, for transport, it is majorly the accidents due
to clicking in front of a running train. Among all the reasons
for death, drowning and re have the highest deaths/incident
ratio. Also, most of the sele‑related deaths because of rearms
occurred in the United States.
We also classied reasons for deaths due to sele as risky behavior
or non‑risky behavior [Figure 3]. The incident where it is quite
evident that the person took risk to click sele and lost her life has
been classied as risky. For example, getting to a slippery edge of
a cliff to click sele has been marked risky while getting hit by a
sea wave on a calm sea and drowning has been marked non‑risky.
In case of ambiguity (for example, slipping from stairs and getting
injured and nally succumbing), a survey was conducted with 15
respondents and majority vote was taken to classify into one of
the classes. Risky behavior caused more deaths and incidents due
to seles than non‑risky behavior. Our study has shown that the
number of deaths in females is less due to risky behavior than
non‑risky behavior while it is approximately three times in males.
Figure 4 is a tree map demonstrating the risky and non‑risky
behavior in males and females.
Discussion
Taking seles is considered to be a mode of self‑expression
in today’s generation like looking in a mirror. Seles are well
popular among Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
users. It is rewarding for individuals seeing the number of likes
and positive comments and this further inuences them to
post unique pictures which may also involve indulging in risky
behavior to click seles.[8]
Our study reports 259 deaths due to sele deaths in 137
incidents. A signicant number of cases are not reported
Figure 1: Age wise distribution of sele deaths
[Downloaded free from http://www.jfmpc.com on Monday, October 1, 2018, IP: 197.237.247.86]
Bhansal, et al.: Sele deaths
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 830 Volume 7 : Issue 4 : July-August 2018
in developing countries, which will also trickle down to
sele‑related deaths since these countries grab a major chunk
in overall numbers.
There has been an exponential increase in the number of sele
deaths from 2014–2015 to 2016–2017. This is because of
increased usage of mobile phones, enhanced sele features on
mobile phones, increased availability of sele sticks, and also
promotion of the phenomenon of seles through events like
“best sele prize.”
About three‑fourth of sele deaths occurred in males. A project
called selecity[9] has established that women take more seles
as compared to men. But because men are more likely to take
risk to click sele as compared to women, it justies the higher
number of deaths and incidents for men.
Overall, the total number of casualties and incidents is high
for 10–19 and 20–29 age group, highest for latter. Then, it
decreases as the age range goes up. It is expected because
people tend to be less adventurous as they age. This is evident
from the fact that the reasons for casualties in higher age range
are animal/fall unlike electrocution/drowning/rearms and so
on in younger age group.
Drowning and re have the highest deaths/incidents ratio among
all reasons because most of the times the other person who
dies in incident is the one who actually got into trouble while
clicking seles. Interestingly, most of the sele deaths due to
rearms occurred in the United States, which could be due to
less restrictive gun laws in the region.
Figure 2: Distribution of sele deaths country wise
Figure 4: Tree map showing selcides in males and females
Figure 3: Risky and non-risky distribution of sele deaths gender wise
Table1:Causesofsele‑relateddeath
Cause of sele death Sum of mortality Sum of incident count
Animal 8 7
Drowned 70 32
Electrocution 16 13
Fall 48 41
Fire 48 1
Firearm 11 11
Other 7 4
Transport 51 28
Total 259 137
[Downloaded free from http://www.jfmpc.com on Monday, October 1, 2018, IP: 197.237.247.86]
Bhansal, et al.: Sele deaths
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 831 Volume 7 : Issue 4 : July-August 2018
India has the highest number of sele‑related deaths. One
reason that partially accounts for such high share is the world’s
largest young (age ≤30 years) population residing in India, the
age group that has the highest number of deaths due to seles.
Also, our study has shown that the ratio of deaths to incidents
is almost double in India, whereas in other countries incidents
approximate the number of deaths. This unique feature could
be attributed to the reason that trend of group seles is more
prevalent in India as compared to other countries.
Seles take a toll on a large number of adolescents.[7] There
have been certain measures taken to reduce sele deaths such
as declaration of certain areas as “No sele zones.” In Mumbai,
16 areas have been declared as “no sele zones.”[10] In Indonesia,
administrative officials are preparing a safe selfie spot for
foreigners and tourists at Mt. Merapi taking into consideration
the risk of sele deaths.[11] In Russia, there are boards and slogans
displaying not to take seles in particular risky condition that
could endanger life.[12] Lamba et al.[13] are working on developing
an application that will be able to identify when someone is
taking a sele at dangerous situation and thus alert him or her to
the possible risk to life. This is based on analyzing the location
service and identifying a risky and unsafe location.
Although our study has enlisted the largest number of sele
deaths and incidents till date, this is just the tip of iceberg. Many
cases are not reported. The limitation of our study was that
we included news reports only in English language. Therefore,
news reports in local language have been missed. There is
no reporting of cases as sele‑related deaths in India. Thus,
certain deaths due to seles may be reported as road trafc
accidents or others, which leads to underreporting of a large
number of cases.
Large‑scale use of phone and time‑to‑time up gradation of
phone features have led to increased sele deaths. Usually the
youth and tourists are frequently affected because of the desire
of “being cool,” posting photos on social medical, and getting
rewards in forms of likes and comments. Seles are themselves
not harmful, but the human behavior that accompanies seles
is dangerous. Individuals need to be educated regarding certain
risky behaviors and risky places where seles should not be
taken. “No sele zones” areas should be declared across many
tourist areas specially places such as water bodies, mountain
peaks, and over tall buildings to decrease the incidence of
sele‑related deaths.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conicts of interest.
References
1. Word of the Year 2013 | Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford
Dictionaries | English. Available from: https://www.
en.oxforddictionaries.com/word‑of‑the‑year/
word‑of‑the‑year‑2013. [Last accessed on 2018 Jan 28].
2. Google Photos: One year, 200 million users, and a
whole lot of selfies. Google. 2016. Available from:
http://www.blog.google: 443/products/photos/
google‑photos‑one‑year‑200‑million/. [Last cited on
2017 Dec 23].
3. Taylor P. More than half of Millennials have shared a
“selfie”. Pew Research Center. 2014. Available from:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact‑tank/2014/03/04/
more‑than‑half‑of‑millennials‑have‑shared‑a‑selfie/. [Last
cited on 2018 Jan 28].
4. Che J. “Selfie Shoes” are exactly what they sound
like. Huffington Post [Internet]. 2015 Apr 1. Available
from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/01/
selfie‑shoe‑arent‑real‑but‑wow_n_6979478.html. [Last cited
on 2018 Jan 18].
5. Bhogesha S, John JR, Tripathy S. Death in a ash: Sele and
the lack of self‑awareness. J Travel Med 2016;23.
6. Flaherty GT, Choi J. The “selfie” phenomenon: Reducing the
risk of harm while using smartphones during international
travel. J Travel Med 2016;23.
7. Selfie‑related deaths on the rise | Time. Available from:
http://www.time.com/4257429/selfie‑deaths/. [Last Cited
on 2018 Jan 28].
8. selfiecity. selfiecity. Available from: http://www.selfiecity.
net/. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 28].
9. Kim E, Lee J‑A, Sung Y, Choi SM. Predicting selfie‑posting
behavior on social networking sites: An extension of theory
of planned behavior. Comput Hum Behav 2016;62:116‑23.
10. Mumbai police identify 16 no‑selfie zones after
drowning | World news | The Guardian. . Available from:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/
mumbai‑police‑identify‑16‑no‑selfie‑zones‑after‑drowning.
[Last Cited on 2018 Jan 18]
11. Mt. Merapi to prepare selfie spot for visitors – National ‑ The
Jakarta Post. Available from: http://www.thejakartapost.com/
news/2015/06/18/mt‑merapi‑prepare‑selfie‑spot‑visitors.
html. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 28].
12. “A selfie with a weapon kills”: Russia launches campaign
urging photo safety | World news | The Guardian. Available
from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/07/a‑
selfie‑with‑a‑weapon‑kills‑russia‑launches‑safe‑selfie‑camp
aign. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 28].
13. Lamba H, Bharadhwaj V, Vachher M, Agarwal D, Arora M,
Kumaraguru P. Me, myself and my killfie: Characterizing
and preventing selfie deaths. arXiv: 161101911 [cs].
2016 Nov 7 Available from: http://www.arxiv.org/
abs/1611.01911. [Last cited on 2018 Jan 28].
[Downloaded free from http://www.jfmpc.com on Monday, October 1, 2018, IP: 197.237.247.86]
... 7 From 2008 to 2021, 433 selfie-related traumas with or without fatalities were reported globally, 5 in which India ranked first followed by the United States and Russia. 5,8 Meanwhile, criminal selfies refer to offenders who take photos or record videos while committing crimes. 9 Several types of crimes can be captured, such as torture, sexual assault, suicide, and mass shootings. ...
... This finding coincides with a national contest on Facebook called 'SelfieNation 2016' 13 and the worldwide increase in the number of selfie deaths from 2014 to 2017 due to increased smartphone usage, enhanced features, and selfie sticks. 8 We found that the number of cases decreased thereafter: three cases were reported annually from 2017 to 2020 and two cases were reported annually from the years 2021 to 2023. Remarkably, only two tourists (8%) were victims of fatal selfie incidents in Egypt; this result is lower than the previously reported rate (10%-37.2%) of selfie-related casualties among international travellers. ...
... Causes of death vary worldwide and often reflect the diversity of geographic regions, cultural or social beliefs, and legislation. 8,12 For example, India has more railway-related selfie deaths due to 'the belief that posing on or next to train tracks with one's best friend is regarded as romantic and a sign of never-ending friendship'. 8,12,14 In the United States and Russia, firearm injuries largely contribute to death due to the flexibility of gun laws in both countries. ...
Article
Selfies are self-surveillance images or videos captured by individuals using digital cameras that, in the attempt to obtain content, may lead to selfie-related injuries or deaths. Criminal selfies refer to offenders who take selfies with their victim(s) during crimes. Globally, both phenomena are underestimated due to deficient official data and the social nature of these incidents. This pioneering media-based retrospective study on selfie-related trauma aims to offset the literature deficit on this topic in Egypt, as an Arabic-speaking country, and extend the global understanding beyond the Western context. We utilised the Egyptian newspaper articles published between January 2014 and May 2023. We identified 25 reports of selfie-related accidents that resulted in 29 casualties with an 82.8% fatality rate. Male victims outnumbered female victims and the mean age was 21.8 years, with most victims aged in their twenties. Regarding the causes of selfie-related deaths, drowning in the Nile ranked first (43.4%) followed by falling from a height (26%). Unless suicide was suspected (n = 1), the remaining cases were considered accidental. We also found four reported criminal selfies that were associated with intimate partner violence. Three of these offenders were male, of which two had a history of drug addiction. In contrast to selfie cases, only one offender belonged to the second decade age group. Overall, selfie-related deaths were infrequent, with an average of three incidents per year. In conclusion, audio-visual communication has altered the modus operandi of crimes, so the digital media analysis should supplement the criminological and medicolegal processes.
... This is likely due to the country's rich biodiversity and the many opportunities for people to see wild animals in their natural habitats. The researchers have chosen India for this research as it is known as the country with the highest number of selfierelated deaths, following the USA and Russia in general (Bansal et al., 2018). The current study is an approach to investigate the reasons behind the dangerous trend of clicking wildlife selfies. ...
... These selfies can lead to alarming incidents, resulting in injuries or even fatalities among tourists (Weiler et al., 2021), which are usually considered a tragic event before death (Du Preez, 2018). Research from the United States National Library of Medicine reports that, of the 259 selfie-related fatalities recorded between 2011 and 2017, approximately half occurred in India (Bansal et al., 2018). Lamba et al. (2016) mentioned India ranked among the top three countries in selfie deaths. ...
Article
Full-text available
The present research aims to explore the motivation behind taking selfies with animals at wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) in India. This study adopted a qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm; face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 respondents. The findings of the present study indicate several motivational and influencing factors (e.g., ethical and animal welfare concerns, conservation advocacy, cultural and heritage connections, thrill and novelty, affordability, adventure and excitement, safety and ethical standards, personal growth and exploration, creation of travel memories, societal trends, and peer influence, capture memories and souvenirs, environmental and conservation concerns, educational motivations, aesthetic value, and escape from everyday life) that affect tourists' decisions to take wildlife selfies. Theoretically, this research contributes by expanding the understanding of tourist motivations through the lens of Self-determination Theory (SDT), highlighting the complex interplay of personal, social, cultural, and environmental factors. Practically, the study provides information for developing responsible and sustainable wildlife tourism practices that align with ethical and conservation goals.
... Social media sites have contributed to the proliferation of selfies (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018). As a result, social media users endanger both themselves and others by sharing images of themselves in unsafe poses for personal gratification or fame (Bansal et al., 2018). Social media users may use these platforms inefficiently and encounter problems. ...
Article
Full-text available
The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between social appearance anxiety, problematic social media use (PSMU), selfitis behavior, and adaptable self through the application of a moderated-mediation model. In total, 804 social media users from Türkiye (Mage = 30.45 ± 8.12; 61.9% women) completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, Presentation of Online Self Scale, and Selfitis Behavior Scale. A parallel mediation model indicated that social appearance anxiety predicted PSMU. Further, selfitis behaviors and adaptable self mediated the effects of social appearance anxiety on PSMU. Lastly, adaptable self-moderated the relationship between social appearance anxiety and selfitis behaviors. The study suggests that social appearance anxiety can be considered a risk factor, and the adaptable self and selfities behavior may mitigate the effect of social media appearance anxiety on problematic social media use. These findings can inform the development of interventions and preventive strategies to reduce the psychopathological effects of social media addiction.
... Selfie-related fatalities are most often the result of drowning, being run over by a vehicle, or falling from a great height. [5] In India, from January 2022 to January 2023, a total of 13 deaths were recorded. Of these, 61.54% were men and 38.46% were women. ...
... Bansal et al. 18 conducted a study in 2018 to assess the epidemiology of selfie-related deaths around the world. The study suggested that the most popular social media platforms are YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat, with between 69% and 85% of users being adolescents from the USA. ...
... According to a report, 259 people died while capturing selfies in 137 happenings from Oct 2011 to Nov 2017 globally, of which 72.5% were males and 27.5% were females. A great number of happenings and selfie-related deaths have been accounted for in India, trailed by Russia, USA, and Pakistan (Bansal et al., 2018). Thus, this review article is meant to address this hazard and lead a survey of selfitis behaviour and its associations with hypersensitive narcissism and social media usage while reviewing the mediating role of self-esteem in university students. ...
Article
Full-text available
The current study aimed to examine the relationship between hypersensitive narcissism, social media usage, and selfitis behaviour along with the mediating role of self-esteem among university students in Pakistan. Correlational research design and purposive sampling technique were used in the study. The sample comprised (N=200) university students with a mean age of 21.45 years (SD=2.42). Both men (n=100) and women (n=100) participants were included in the study. Standard instruments such as the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS), Selfitis Behaviour Scale (SBS), Social Media Affinity Scale (SMAS), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were used to collect the data. The results indicated that hypersensitive narcissism, social media usage, and selfitis behaviour have a significant positive correlation, while they exhibit a non-significant correlation with self-esteem. The findings also revealed that hypersensitive narcissism and social media usage positively predict selfitis behaviour. It was also determined that hypersensitive narcissism, social media usage, selfitis behaviour, and self-esteem have the same impact on both genders. Self-esteem was taken as a mediator but the results showed that it did not mediate between these variables. The study may assist future educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers in recognizing and addressing such risk factors to promote a healthier academic and social environment. The study may further contribute to discussions related to digital well-being and the need for guidelines to ensure that social media platforms are used in ways that enhance rather than diminish the self-esteem of university students.
... No selfie areas should be mentioned at the tourism spots having high risk. (Bansal A., 2018). ...
Article
Full-text available
Objective The objective of the current study is to analyse and classify the types of deaths due to selfie clicking habit of the people as well as want to aware people and administrative about the risk of this deadly hobby with some suggestion.
Article
Full-text available
Background. Photography is an integral component of the international travel experience. Self-photography is becoming a mainstream behaviour in society and it has implications for the practice of travel medicine. Travellers who take selfies, including with the use of selfie sticks, may be subject to traumatic injuries associated with this activity. This review article is the first in the medical literature to address this emerging phenomenon. Methods. Articles indexed on PubMed and Scopus databases through 2015 were retrieved, using the search terms ‘travel’, combined with ‘selfie’, ‘self-photography’, ‘smartphone’, ‘mobile phone’ and ‘social media’. The reference lists of articles were manually searched for additional publications, and published media reports of travel-related self-photography were examined. Results. The lack of situational awareness and temporary distraction inherent in selfie-taking exposes the traveller to potential hazards. A diverse group of selfie injuries has been reported, including injury and death secondary to selfie-related falls, attacks from wild animals, electrocution, lightning strikes, trauma at sporting events, road traffic and pedestrian accidents. Public health measures adopted by the Russian Federation in response to over 100 reported selfie injuries in 2015 alone are presented. The review also discusses the potential for direct trauma from the use of selfie sticks. Travel-related scenarios where selfies should be avoided include photographs taken from a height, on a bridge, in the vicinity of vehicular traffic, during thunderstorms, at sporting events, and where wild animals are in the background. Recommendations exist which discourage use of mobile phones in drivers and pedestrians. Conclusions. The travel medicine practitioner should routinely counsel travellers about responsible self-photography during international travel and should include this advice in printed material given to the patient. The travel and mobile phone industries should reinforce these health promotion messages. Future research should offer greater insights into traveller selfie-taking behaviour.
Article
Over the past few years, a notable trend has emerged in social networking sites (SNSs). With the growing popularity of image-based SNSs such as Instagram, users increasingly communicate and present themselves by posting photographs they take of themselves (“selfies”). As the phenomenon of selfies becomes widespread across a range of SNSs as a unique means of self-presentation, an interesting question arises, what makes people post their selfies on SNSs. To delve into this rising issue, the present study investigates the antecedents of selfie-posting behavior on SNSs by applying and extending Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A conceptual model, which is primarily drawn from the TPB and incorporates narcissism as an additional antecedent, is proposed and empirically tested. Results show that attitude toward selfie-posting, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and narcissism are the significant determinants of an individual's intention to post selfies on SNSs. Further, one's selfie-posting behavior on SNSs is significantly predicted by his or her intention to post selfies. Implications of the findings are discussed with suggestions for future research.
More than half of Millennials have shared a “selfie”. Pew Research Center
  • P Taylor
Taylor P. More than half of Millennials have shared a "selfie". Pew Research Center. 2014. Available from: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/03/04/ more-than-half-of-millennials-have-shared-a-selfie/. [Last cited on 2018 Jan 28].
Merapi to prepare selfie spot for visitors - National - The Jakarta Post
  • Mt
Mt. Merapi to prepare selfie spot for visitors -National -The Jakarta Post. Available from: http://www.thejakartapost.com/ news/2015/06/18/mt-merapi-prepare-selfie-spot-visitors. html. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 28].
Selfie Shoes" are exactly what they sound like. Huffington Post
Che J. "Selfie Shoes" are exactly what they sound like. Huffington Post [Internet]. 2015 Apr 1. Available from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/01/ selfie-shoe-arent-real-but-wow_n_6979478.html. [Last cited on 2018 Jan 18].
Mumbai police identify 16 no-selfie zones after drowning | World news | The Guardian
Mumbai police identify 16 no-selfie zones after drowning | World news | The Guardian.. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/ mumbai-police-identify-16-no-selfie-zones-after-drowning. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 18]
A selfie with a weapon kills": Russia launches campaign urging photo safety | World news | The Guardian
12. "A selfie with a weapon kills": Russia launches campaign urging photo safety | World news | The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/07/aselfie-with-a-weapon-kills-russia-launches-safe-selfie-camp aign. [Last Cited on 2018 Jan 28].