Countries With The Highest Number Of Selfie Related Fatalities

The History Of Selfies

Selfie is one of the most popular form of photography today, especially among the younger generation. Selfie is a photograph of one’s self-taken with a digital camera or phone supported by a selfie stick or held in the hand. Selfies are always meant for sharing mostly on the social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or snap chat. The history of selfies dates back to 1839 when Robert Cornelius produced a photo of himself. With the invention of Kodak cameras in 1900, people would take pictures of themselves in front of a mirror. However, the word selfie first appeared on the internet in Australia on 13th September 2002 when Nathan Hope posted a photo of himself with a busted lip then captioning it including the word selfie in the caption. The word gained international popularity in 2013 when it was named Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year.

Common Selfie Age Groups

Selfie was initially popular with the young people especially those who were in high school and colleges between the age of 18-24 years. Selfie accounts for 30% of the photos taken by the young people. Currently, the selfie is taken by all age groups and by people of all social class ranging from world leaders, business tycoons, celebrities, students, organization heads, and community icons among others.

Celebrity Influence

Selfies are currently taken just anywhere as long as there is something significant a person would want to recognize or identify with themselves. A new hairstyle or makeup will automatically trigger a selfie moment. Some notable people in the society or family will also attract a selfie either to remember the day or for posting on social media. Selfies have also been taken around physical features and animals especially wildlife. Astronauts have taken photos of themselves on Mars. Group photos are also being taken by teams, friends and families in events and activities. Celebrities are known to have a direct influence on the people with the selfie they post on their social media networks. President Obama’s selfie with the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron during Mandela’s funeral service sparked a worldwide debate on the leader’s actions with most people terming them as clowns and insensitive. Celebrities have a way of using selfies to market their music and promote events using selfies. Young people also have been influenced by the life and social behaviors of the celebrities through the selfies posted on Instagram and Twitter.

Selfie Related Fatalities

Many people sustained injuries while majority have died while taking a selfie. India leads with the highest selfie-related death (19) while Russia, the US, and Spain have reported 7.5 and four deaths respectively. The first known selfie death occurred in 2014 when a man electrocuted himself on a train. In the same year, a 14-year-old fell from the 3rd-floor staircase while taking a selfie. A 21-year old, Oscar accidentally shot himself while taking a selfie in Mexico in 2014. In 2015 some Indian youths drowned while taking a selfie in Mangrum Lake. In June the same year, a 15-year-old Pakistani boy was mistakenly shot by police while he was taking selfie using a toy gun.