Up until a few years back i.e. before the advent of smartphones, only just a few people knew what a selfie was. The word Selfie was first coined in Australia after its first acknowledged usage was exposed by an Australian. He termed his snap, taken while drunk on a party night, a selfie. The word selfie was titled 2013 word of the year by none other than the famous Oxford Dictionaries.
Bygone are the days when people used to take photographs only on a few very important occasions. Conversely, the selfie, which means taking the picture of oneself, has become an obsession nowadays. The social media, indeed, has paved a way for uploading these selfies within no time — just a click away. No wonder there’s always a ‘like’ awaiting the approval of the selfie.
To a certain extent, having a craze for selfies is accepted. However, if a person starts feeling some sort of weird satisfaction with the preoccupation for selfies, it should be understood that there is a dire need to look into the matter earnestly — for the reason that it is the beginning stage of psychopathy. This argument has empirical evidence to boot. In fact, in today’s world, a small insanity in point of fact is considered normal.
A study conducted on selfie maniac people in the past determined that people with social media posts associated with drinking, malevolent behavior had more followers than people without such uploaded images. This essentially brings out the reality that an obscure social image is more eye-catching than being a gentleman. In all probabilities, this could have been the reason why people feel like to have selfie photos and selfie videos. Just consider this as an important point to ponder for our discussion.
Let us go back to those notorious incidents (I believe they can be referred so) such as the incident that came on light on February 19, 2015. In this incident, a Hyderabad young man Mohammad Abdul alias Fazal Sheikh posted his selfie standing on an unusual dying out 50-year-old Galapagos tortoise on his Facebook wall. It might have fetched him more likes, as the dark images bring more fan following — but it has exposed his illegal entry into the enclosure in Nehru Zoological Park, occasioning in his arrest by the police.
In a similar fanatic incident, on January 25, 2018, a youngster’s plan to take a selfie video with a running train in the background went awry. Notwithstanding to an audible warning from a close observer and the train’s horn, Siva, a 25-year-old gym trainer, sustained serious injuries as the train hit him. This selfie manic incident ultimately led him to land in a hospital with serious injuries.
Such incidents indubitably prove the craze one has for selfies. It is widespread in India like any other addiction. We have, in the past, seen many such incidents wherein people take selfies with cadavers. More recently, some of the staff of Kamineni Hospital has taken this selfie mania to its peak. The inveterate nursing staff that treated Nandamuri Harikrishna has deported themselves in a most heinous and absurd way by taking a selfie with his corpse. As usual, even this picture has gone viral, once again proving the fact that an obscure social image is more eye-catching than being a gentleman. What a shame on account of selfies!
In another study, it has been proven that people who take selfies regularly are more prone to having low self-esteem. While a majority i.e. 60% of respondents admitted that they are having low self-esteem, only a measly share of 13% respondents expressed their confidence. The whys and wherefores people uploaded selfies ranged from mere catching their best moments to sharing their mood in preference to keep informed their profile status. On the other hand, the most general reason was to get consideration for likes and comments on the social media platforms.
In my viewpoint, as I mentioned previously, having an obsession to a certain extent for selfies is accepted. After all, we are living in a technology-driven world. However, it is important to ensure that one should not give a vent for a selfie that is uncalled for. Besides, no one should base all their self-esteem on a few comments or likes on a picture — there’s a lot more to a person than a selfie!
– Dr.Suman Kumar Kasturi
