Why Are People Willing to Risk Their Lives Just to Get That ‘Perfect’ Selfie

Since 2008, 379 people have died because of risky selfies.

Sal

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Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash

In February 2024, a 38-year-old man jumped over a 12-foot fence to enter a lion enclosure at a zoo in Tirupati. He wanted to take a close-up photo with the lions. Sadly, the big cats were not happy to see a stranger among them and fatally attacked him.

This isn’t the only time someone has lost their life while trying to take the perfect shot. A report from the University of New South Wales says that since 2008, 379 people have died because of risky selfies.

Yet we see people endangering their lives trying to take the perfect shot for their preppy Instagram and Twitter feeds. And the question remains, why do people go to extreme lengths to get just one picture?

Deaths from selfies are now a public health problem.

Selfies can be taken literally anywhere. Everything can be a selfie zone, from a cliff side to the top of a skyscraper. Turns out people will go to great lengths, risking their limbs and lives, to click the perfect shot.

Studies show that from 2008 to 2021, 37.2% of the deaths were travelers, not locals. Falls from heights made up 49.9% of all deaths…

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