The reason for this article are the two featured photos in what can only be described as disturbing pictures, the one above which was taken moments before her death, these people were very young. I have to say they shook me up a bit, they have a haunting quality about them and sum up quite succinctly where this world is heading.....as in off a cliff. This by any stretch of the imagination cannot be classed as "normal" behaviour? This article is also a continuation on from "The Seven Deadly Sins" article and will illustrate quite strongly that taking a Selfie is a Sin which has consequences. As the Bible says "the wages of sin are death".
We will take a look at why Selfies are a Sin and the warning signs that you may be on the same road as some of these victims of Narcissism. Sin is a small word, one of the smallest but is one the biggest in consequences.
What is the dictionary definition of the Selfie
Selfie is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website".as at 19 Nov 2013
Selfie you could say is derived from the word "Selfish" which plays into one of the 7 Deadly Sins which is Pride or often known as Vanity, the sub part of it and the very root of Selfies would be Narcissism. But hey "Sin" is nothing to worry about these days, we´re not living in those old biblical times anymore. We live in modern liberal times where anything goes right? You think.....read on
[caption id="attachment_1130" align="aligncenter" width="680"]
The disturbing new trend of Extreme Selfies in the name of social media fame[/caption]What is Narcissism?
According to Wikipedia "Narcissism is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. The term originated from Greek mythology, where the young Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water".
Narcissism is a sub set part of "Pride and Vanity" and is the deadliest of the lot and most destructive. Why, because it can lead to one or all of the other 6 deadly sins.
So what is the problem with taking a Selfie?
The actual taking of a normal selfie is not the problem but it is the beginning. As with all Sin it starts with an innocent play around or try of something which then becomes a habit, then an addiction which takes over your life and eventually that persons life is affected adversely to such an extent that they become a slave to it,........ ultimately it can lead in extreme cases to death as the Bible says.
In relation to Selfies, taking a picture of yourself and putting it on a Social Media website in itself is a fairly harmless past time but it is where it can lead to, as in darker places. The real issue is this, the person concerned is not even aware that they are heading down this dark road or that this process is happening. That`s the danger.
So what are the darker places?
Vanity can be a destructive force, but it is a crafty one, but just like say "drug addiction" it can creep up on you unawares and gradually seep into your life in ever increasing strength. To get the same buzz you have to take or do stronger versions and things can escalate and get out of control without you being aware.
The actual picture taking in a normal situation that does not involve putting your life on the line is not the problem it is where the photo goes....that is the problem. The root of all this narcissistic behaviour is social media.
As everybody is aware Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and other social media websites have "Like" and "Share" buttons. The more popular and shared a picture is the higher the Like and Share numbers are. And this is where the problem lies and is the root of this modern day Selfie Culture narcissistic behaviour.
Scenario 1
Girl takes normal selfie puts on Instagram, it gets 20 likes in 1 day. Looks at other girls of similar appearance and sees 1,000, 2,000 and 1,500 likes in one day. How does that girl feel about herself after comparing herself with other Instagram Accounts. She is a bit "chubby" and the other girls are slim so she decides to go on a crash diet within weeks she is on 800 likes on her photos per day. She diets further starving herself for days at a time she is now up there in the 1,500-2000 likes a day. You know here this is heading!
Scenario 2
A rooftop selfie expert has thousands of followers viewing his photos of him taking selfies whilst drunk on the roof of houses in London with the London skyline as a backdrop. He has noticed recently though that the likes have dropped from an average of 3,000 per photo down to 2,200 per photo per day. He decides to really up the stakes and start taking photos from office block rooftops that have better views, after "having a few beers". His likes per photo skyrocket into the tens of thousands and his follower count jumps up in tandem, he is in heaven? He decides to take the ultimate Selfie from the roof of the Shard with a beer in one hand and without any safety harness. You know where this is leading
Scenario 3
An attractive model posts photos of herself regularly and gets on average 1,000 likes per day but has noticed some of her competitors get double this amount but she is fully clothed and they are in bikinis. She decides to try a bikini selfie and her likes skyrocket and she is now level with her other model counterparts. She decides to take things to the next level to show these other models "who´s the boss". We all know the path she is walking down here.
Scenario 4
An activist selfie expert who enjoys taking selfies in the middle of demonstrations and riots gets a lot of views and likes on his selfies but the likes have reached a peak in recent months as other copycats have started to appear and he is wondering how to increase his following and likes, so decides to go to the more extreme riots where guns, grenades and other weapons are being used and more danger is present and the risk of death is very near. Likes increase dramatically. The outcome of this course eventually is clear.
A Personal Story and Experience
I can give loads of other scenarios or examples but here is one I had a personal experience with when I was in the Celebrity Photography game. I had lots of contact with fans and autograph hunters and dealers and knew the lengths they went to to get those autographs and selfies. You just would not believe.
One such autograph hunter and selfie addict tipped yours truly off on a new Fashion store opening in Mayfair. So I went along with him as it was quiet that day, just managed to get a couple of shots of a new emerging star in Leicester Square and that was it. There was the possibility of some big name fashion type such as Kate Moss, Cara Delevigne and Stella McCartney amongst others turning up at this thing. Arrived about 7pm, had been out since 7am. After about 2 hours at this event it was pretty much apparent that nobody of any consequence was going to turn up, even the Security staff hinted that nobody of any importance was going to be there. So 9pm I packed my camera away and called it a day. At that exact moment a chauffeured Bentley or similar turned up and my selfie friend said "get your camera out quick that could be Kate Moss" I turned round and said "No, I`m going home it takes 3 hours to get back and I have to be up in the morning at 5am" He looked at me as if I was mad and I turned round and said these words "My Friend, I´m going home, I really could not care less who is in that car. Don´t let these people take over your life....they will not show any appreciation or thank you for it" He looked at me in shock, it hit home pretty hard. Saw him the next day he said he stayed till 1 or 2 in the morning, saw nothing let alone got a selfie and slept on a park bench in Central London. He looked liked he had not washed or anything. He could not see he had a problem. Luckily I saw the light and packed in Celebrity Photography about a month or two later.
Here is an interesting fact. In August 2014, selfie was officially accepted for use in the word game Scrabble!
Selfie related deaths seems to be on the rise. A recent article from Pricenomics says there has been 49 Selfie related deaths since March 2014. The Telegraph wrote that, in 2015, more people were killed taking selfies than by shark attacks although this is under debate.
The article has a good quote that highlights the general way that Selfie Culture is heading
"It's all about me. It's putting me in the frame. I'm getting attention and when I post that to social media, I'm getting the confirmation that I need from other people that I'm awesome," says lead researcher Jesse Fox. "You're not thinking about the consequences of your actions, so who cares if you're dangling off the side of the Eiffel Tower?" Extract From Pricenomics
Words and feelings associated with Selfies
Take a look at some of the words associated with Selfies. Would you regard these good or evil traits?
Betrayal Boasting Egocentrism Egotism Empathy (lack of) Envy Fantasy Grandiosity Hubris Magical thinking Manipulative Narcissistic abuse Narcissistic elation Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury Narcissistic mortification Narcissistic supply Narcissistic withdrawal Perfectionism Self-esteem Self-righteousness Shamelessness Superficial charm Superiority complex True self and false self Vanity
Real Life Examples of Selfie Death
Here´s some real examples not fictitious scenarios of Selfie´s taken to the extreme that have resulted in deaths all in the name of Vanity one of the "seven Deadly Sins".
Presumed unloaded gun kills person taking Selfie
The most recent selfie-related death involved a Washington State man who shot himself in the face with a gun while taking a selfie. The Concrete, Wash. resident was with his girlfriend at the time, and she said he believed the weapon was unloaded. via Time
Accidental Explosion
Two Russian soldiers in the Urals region west of Siberia were posing for a selfie with a live grenade. The handheld explosive detonated unexpectedly and, going off in their faces. Only the phone with the photo survived. via Rolling Stone
Romanian Girl loses life after getting electrocuted on train roof
A teenage Romanian girl had attempted to take the special selfie on top of a train in the northern town of Iasi, Romania. According to a friend, 18-year-old Anna Urso was planning to post this "ultimate selfie" on Facebook. Urso decided to lie down on the roof of the stationary train car, but when she reached up with one of her legs to pose, but she hit an overhead live wire that shocked her with 27,000 volts. via Rolling Stone
Polish man and woman die taking Selfie on Portugeses Cliff while children watch
A Polish man and woman taking selfies at the cliffs of Cabo Da Roca in Portugal on Saturday fell to their deaths. According to investigators, the couple had been taking photos of themselves when they fell down a cliff and into the Atlantic Ocean, via Washington Post
Summary
On the surface we are living in a world where it could be said we literally have "never had it so good". BUT after reading all this, it becomes pretty clear there are some worrying underlying trends that are emerging that have one or more of the "7 Deadly Sins" woven into their very roots. These sins are as relevant today as they were back in Biblical Times. We are living in an increasingly crazy and narcissistic society full of Pride, Arrogance and Vanity being the main drivers, a symptom of the End Times we are living in and Death by Selfie is one of those symptoms. These things on their own are not desirable traits, but it´s where they lead is the disturbing problem and it´s all being driven by the social media explosion we are witnessing around the globe.
If people start to take a selfie while walking in front of a moving train, hanging thousands of feet off the ground from a skyscraper, or handling an actual live grenade, and somehow...... you end up dead, you have got to ask yourself 1. Is this normal behaviour? and 2. What is happening to our world?
The problem is it is "the nature of the beast" in that once people see Selfies that are extreme in nature to get those into orbit views and likes you have to do the same otherwise your normal selfies are a bit "old school" and don´t "cut it" as they used to. That´s the inner workings of the mind of a Selfie Addict.
Personally as followers of this website will know, I have a number of Twitter accounts of which The Twelve Gates @ThatFJ is the biggest one. This account currently has over 16K followers, which is nice but the numbers even now go up and down like a yo yo. Put the wrong tweet out and see the follower count drop, put a good tweet out and watch it go into orbit. Do I lose any sleep about the numbers? Not really which is probably the secret to that accounts success,
I could instead of Tweeting every 2 or 3 hours via laptop and occasionally mobile, tweet every half hour or even every ten minutes and be right on top of the news as it happens and watch the follower count and retweets sky rocket. In reality I tweet what needs to be said and the truth rather than tweeting what people want to hear as it happens within a nano second. I could put pictures of me with the Archbishop of Canterbury or get a Selfie with Theresa May or some major celebrity and the follower count would go into orbit as well, but I know where that would lead and the original purpose of The Twelve Gates Twitter and this website would have been lost in the sake of coolness and vanity and a few extra likes and followers.
Should people stop taking selfies. Of course not, selfies down the pub or a nightclub or on holiday or anything else that is not putting your life at risk is normal behaviour. The problem is when it starts taking over your life to the exclusion of everything else and is leading you to a dark place and becoming an addiction.........that where the real problem lies.
This article is therefore a warning of the evils of this world that are out there. Evil is crafty, seductive and enticing and entices you with "Sin", and as you can see Sin is a dangerous word and not a thing to be messed with. The journey all starts innocently but at the other end in extreme cases can lead to the loss of life!
Bible Quotes
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 John 3:8
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Proverbs 31:30 - Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Psalms 119:37 - Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; [and] quicken thou me in thy way.
1 Samuel 16:7 - But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun.
Matthew 16:26 - For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Proverbs 18:12 - Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour [is] humility.
Proverbs 16:18 - Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
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