Why Do People Risk Their Lives — or the Lives of Others — for the Perfect Selfie?
This article by Michael Wiegold originally on the The Conversation on March 24, 2016.
2016 hasn’t been a great year for the selfie.
In February, Argentinian tourists passed around a baby La Plata dolphin in order to take selfies with it. The endangered animal subsequently diedfrom stress and heat exhaustion.
Then, in early March, a swan died after a tourist dragged it from a lake in Macedonia — all for the sake of a selfie.
While both animal deaths elicited widespread anger, humans have been more likely to put their own lives at risk in order to snap the perfect photograph. In 2015, Russian authorities even launched a campaignwarning that “A cool selfie could cost you your life.”
The reason? Police estimate nearly 100 Russians have died or suffered injuries from attempting to take “daredevil” selfies, or photos of themselves in dangerous situations. Examples include a woman wounded by a gunshot (she survived), two men blown up holding grenades (they did not), and people taking pics on top of moving trains.
