More people are dying for the perfect selfie.
A new study – titled, “Me, Myself and My Killfie: Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths” – found that 127 people have died in a 29-month span through last September while trying to get photos of themselves at dangerous or exotic locations. The overwhelming majority of the deaths compiled by researchers occurred in India, where 76 people died. In the United States, there were eight selfie-related deaths.
The most common factor behind the so-called “selfie deaths” – defined as a death of an individual or group that could have been avoided had the individual(s) not been taking a selfie – was a fall from an elevated location like buildings or mountains. Deaths involving both elevation and water were next, followed by fatalities involving trains, according to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and two colleges in India.
“We found that taking selfies on train tracks is a trend,” the study reads. “This trend caters to the belief that posting on or next to train tracks with their best friend is regarded as romantic and a sign of never-ending friendship.”
Researchers found a total of eight factors behind the deaths, including weapons, vehicles, electricity and animals. The earliest reference to a selfie-involved death was published in March 2014, they found. Since then, a total of 15 deaths were tallied in 2014, followed by 39 last year and 73 deaths through September in 2016, according to the study.
A total of five people – three in the United States and two in Russia – died while trying to click a selfie with a weapon, a possible consequence of “open gun laws in both countries,” the researchers said.
“After analyzing selfie deaths, we can claim that a dangerous selfie is the one which can potentially trigger any of the above-mentioned reasons for selfie deaths,” the study reads. “For instance, a selfie being taken on the peak of a mountain is dangerous as it exposes the selfie taker to the risk of falling down from a height.”
The study also found that selfies, billed as a “symbol of self-expression,” were not just deadly to the person snapping the picture. Of the 127 selfie-related deaths identified, 24 incidents involved multiple lives lost, according to the study.
“An example of this could be an incident near Mangrul Lake in the Kuhi district in India, where a group of 10 youth had gone for boating in the lake,” the study read. “While they were trying to take selfie, the boat tilted, and seven people died.”
The study also found that men are more prone to taking dangerous selfies, accounting for 76 percent of all deaths, despite women taking more selfies than men, according to the report. More than 70 percent of all victims were ages 24 or younger, which researchers noted is consistent with earlier findings that selfies are especially popular with millennials.
“Clicking selfies has become a symbol of self-expression and often people portray their adventurous side by uploading crazy selfies,” the study reads. “This has proven to be dangerous.”