Selfies, a form of unintended suicide

Terrorism, Syria, oil, Donald Trump, demonetisation and football, all are highly debated topics. Yet, there exists a serious problem that seems to be overlooked by all – selfie related deaths. Last January we were greeted by the unfortunate news of people dying, attempting to take daring selfies just for the sake of a high number of likes and comments. The selfie has become the latest form of unintended suicide.

The selfie is a revolution. It puts the person being photographed in control of the photograph. It is an art of freedom.

Social media popularity is so attractive to today’s youth that it makes them go to the terrace of a high building, climb a tall bridge, jump into an animal’s cage or even stand on railway tracks. Though these may be adventurous acts, ‘foolish’ seems to be a better adjective. According to the New York Post, in the last 29 months, 127 people have died due to this very reason. This gives us the approximate value of one person dying every six days by attempting to take selfies. Also, the average age of the victims of selfie deaths is 21 years old.

Amidst this, phone companies are just trying to make business by increasing the megapixels of the front camera and introducing wider angle selfie cameras that allow you to take group selfies. Yet, we can’t blame them. It’s the mindset. The fact that you don’t get likes on Facebook or Instagram doesn’t make you a person who has no hope in life. But, this is exactly what people think. Or else, why do you think anyone would do such foolish acts?

This article is not against selfies. Indeed, the selfie is a helpful feature on our mobiles. It is absolutely not harmful to take a selfie as a group or alone in normal surroundings. The extent to which one goes to make a selfie look ‘great’ is the thing that has to be restricted. My hope for 2017 is that the number of selfie deaths gets reduced and the youth start acting more mature and responsible.

- The reader is a student based in Abu Dhabi.