Right perspective: Taking selfies isn't exactly a sin, but it's important to be mindful of your safety while doing so.
Just last year, the Oxford University Press declared the word “selfie” (which it defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”) as its Word of The Year.
That says a lot about how taking self portraits has become such a big thing in our society nowadays.In reality, it’s actually not a new concept at all. I’m quite sure that people had already been snapping pictures of themselves long before the dawn of the smartphone era. But it’s only in recent times that a special word for it has surfaced.
Also, with the prices for digital devices getting cheaper by the day, it has allowed more people to have access to technology which makes taking a selfie possible anywhere, anytime, with minimal costs (if any at all) involved.
Honestly, I’m not really all that keen to discuss selfies at all. But due to some really bizarre stories that I’ve been coming across online lately, I felt the time is ripe for me to finally broach this topic.
Dangerous feat
I’m sure by now many of you would have already heard about the case of the Polish couple who fell off a cliff and died in Cabo de Roca, Portugal while trying to take a selfie. Many websites had published this story so it’s quite likely that you’ve seen it shared somewhere on your social media feeds.
This terribly sad incident occurred just last weekend. According to what I read, the couple fell about 80m into the Atlantic Ocean. Rescuers even had trouble recovering the bodies on the day itself due to rising tides, only succeeding the next day.
This tale was sad enough as it was, but if you were diligent enough to take in all the facts, you would have also discovered that the deceased couple left behind two young children, aged five and six.
What a tragic way to be orphaned.
I wonder how these these two kids will explain their predicament when they are asked about their parents’ demise in the years to come, and what feelings it would evoke in them when they do so.
Will they feel disappointed over what appears to be their parent’s carelessness? (Apparently, the couple had walked past a safety barrier in order to reach the edge of the cliff where they tried to take the selfie). Or anger, perhaps, at how selfish their parents had been by endeavouring such a dangerous feat?
Whatever it is, I highly doubt they would feel proud about their parent’s actions.
Photos to die for
Absolutely no one deserves to lose their loved ones over something as trivial as a selfie. But this has become a fairly common occurrence this year.
Just open up your favourite browser and run a search for “selfie deaths”. The number of stories that show up on your results list will alarm you. It’s especially scary to note that many of these cases had occurred within 2014 alone.
There’s the story of 32 year old Courtney Sanford, who died in a head-on collision with a recycling truck while travelling to work along a highway in South Carolina, United States. Police found no evidence of alcohol or drugs on her that may have caused the accident. In fact, she wasn’t even speeding.
However, friends of Courtney later came forward to inform the authorities that she had made several Facebook posts around the time just before the accident. “The happy song makes me so HAPPY”, she had posted, accompanied by a selfie. Not a happy ending at all.
In another incident, Xenia Ignatyeva, 17 climbed onto a railway bridge in Krasnogvardeysky, Saint Petersburg, Russia to take a selfie at night. A friend of hers, Oksana Zhankova, also 17, waited for her below. Unfortunately, while doing so, Ignatyeva fell off the side of the bridge and was electrocuted while trying to grab onto a high voltage cable. It was a 9m drop. She was dead before she hit the ground.
A similar thing happened in Italy to Isabella Fracchiolla,16. She was at a school trip in the seaside town of Taranto. While attempting to take a selfie, she fell 18m onto jagged rocks below. Although she was rushed to the hospital, doctors who operated on her failed to save her life.
Needless to say, there are plenty of other stories involving near-death selfie experiences too. For example, the case of the man who tried to snap a selfie with a fighting bull in Bayonne, France or the Fox reporter, Kelly Nash whose head was almost hit by a stray baseball while capturing a photo to post on Instagram.
Safety and sanity first
Well, before you think I’m some nagging aunt out to curtail your fun on social media, I should add that I too indulge in a selfie or two once in awhile.
In fact, I don’t see the act of taking a selfie as a bad thing in itself (as long as you aren’t obsessed to the point of feeling compelled to snap one every few minutes).
But it all starts to spin out of control once you start to make rash decisions just so you can snap the most spectacular selfie that you believe the planet will ever see.
(If you need to get a clearer idea of just how ridiculous this trend has now become, just glance through Viral Nova’s list of extreme selfies.)
Well, I think it’s time we all took a step back to consider why we take the selfies that we do. Photos are meant to capture special moments, but when it turns into an issue of life and death, perhaps those images shouldn’t matter as much as we think they should.
Also, I think many of us shoot selfies just so we have can bragging rights. That isn’t really a good reason either as it breeds pride and jealousy, which usually doesn’t bring about any kind of happy endings.
Consider also the fact that by taking selfies far too often, those photos you keep uploading online quickly lose their novelty. And of course, you run the risk of annoying everybody else in your social circles.
So, the next time you think of taking a selfie, remember to ask yourself if it’s truly necessary. And also, please stay out of harm’s way, for goodness’ sake.
Susanna Khoo feels there are limits to when and how selfies should be taken, and that everyone should learn to savour the moment they’ve been given without constantly worrying about capturing it in a photograph. Send your thoughts about selfies to her at susanna@thestar.com.my.
Just last year, the Oxford University Press declared the word “selfie” (which it defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”) as its Word of The Year.
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