Taking a picture of oneself is not something new in the photography world. People have been taking self-captions for a long time now – if not since the invention of photography. But it was with the advent of social networks that the word "selfie" was coined. Since its apparition, social media has become an effective way to share information, pictures, music and anything that you could think of. But the practice of taking a picture of oneself as the main protagonist has jumped to popularity in recent years. So much is their success that many people even put their life in danger to get a perfect selfie.
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| A man takes a selfie by a crashing wave on Beirut's Corniche, a seaside promenade, as high winds sweep through Lebanon during a storm in this February 11, 2015, file photo. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/Files |
There are different kinds of people who take a selfie. There are these people who take selfies from time to time, for a special occasion or for a profile picture. These people only take pictures of themselves when they deem it necessary. Then, there are people that feel the need to take a selfie every step they make. Since they wake up in the morning till they go to bed, you can trace every move they make through their social media. But the one that is more interesting for me are the ones that put their life in danger to take an “extreme selfie”. These are people that take pictures of themselves near wild animals, on top of skyscrapers or at cliffs' edges.
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| https://www.instagram.com/p/rrRVMoDanK/ |
As “cool” as those pictures may look like, there have been a lot of deaths due to this dangerous practice. This madness of taking the most extreme selfie led people to take huge risks in order to achieve it. Although there are a lot of people who have succeeded – we can find their amazing pictures all over the net – others have not been so lucky. To give an example of these events, I will expose the problem that India has with this wave of deaths due to selfie-takers. India is the country who has the highest rank of deaths involving selfies. Here are some pieces of news about this problematic issue in India:
CHENNAI: Just outside Chennai, a 16-year-old student died while trying to take a selfie with a speeding train in the background.
MALEGAON: Three schoolchildren today drowned in a lake while trying to click a selfie near Shingave village in Nashik district.
This wave of deaths has led the Indian State to get to work to prevent further tragedies. That's why the government has implemented no-selfie zones posting warning signs. Most Indian states have labelled tourists’ zones to make them safe.
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| http://www.ndtv.com/video/news/news/max-selfie-linked-deaths-in-india-selfie-danger-zones-to-be-identified-426952 |
Taking selfies to remember a trip or a special moment is something that allows us to remember it for a long time. But I think that too much of something is really wide of the mark. Putting yourself in danger to gain "likes" is certainly something that you should not even think twice.
I had never thought about the risk of taking a selfie till now! How dangerous!Even though this information shocks me, I have to say that the thing about selfie is not the unique problem. Some months ago the madness about Pokemon started. A lot of people put their lives in danger in order to obtain all the pokemons.Because of that I think that the problem is not the selfie or a ame, but instead the lack of understanding as regard the risk of trying to be all the time updated!
ResponderEliminarHow shocking! I knew that there were some people who put their lives in risk just because they wanted to take a selfie but how thin is the line between life and death. It is surprising how people get involved so quickly in this type of activity but there must be a limit.
ResponderEliminarI cannot stop reading without singing the title. Let me say that I agree with you when saying that some people die for having a great picture on their facebook profile. I really don't like selfies, I just take it when the situation warrant it. I think that those people want to be accepted by society and the way they can do it is by posting a picture and accumulate as many likes as possible. So, I think that there is no need to put their in danger their life just for the sake of accumulating likes and being popular.
ResponderEliminarI can't believe that people put their lives under danger just to take a photo. In fact, I always think that a person has to live the moment instead of being worried about taking photos of the moment. I must admit that some photos are incredible, but do they worth it? Do they worth a life? I think that people do not appreciate their lives, otherwise they wouldn't do this.
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