Studies indicate that taking selfies is now a public safety hazard. This was discovered after a number of accidents were reported at tourist spots where selfie takers tried to take photos of themselves in the most dangerous places you can find. Selfie takers seem not to understand the risks of trying to look as though they’re hanging over a deep opening in a cave or a volcano. They think that the worst thing that could happen is that they drop their phones down a deep dark shaft or over a cliff. But the worst thing is that their bodies could fall down a massive deep hole or over a cliff whilst they’re in the middle of taking their selfie.

 You know, studies aren’t wrong about how taking selfies can be a public safety hazard. However, taking selfies can not only be a safety hazard but a health hazard too. I don’t often take selfies. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever taken one for the sake of vanity. Nor have I ever taken one in a tourist spot. The main reason for this is that 99 per cent of the time, the front facing cameras of most phones are terrible and make you look really bad. The photos are often grainy and on top of that you end up being too close to the lens which means that it tends to distort your features quite a bit. Often your nose appears bigger than it actually is which means everything else is also out of proportion. When people see a selfie they’ve taken and notice how bad they look, they automatically assume that they are ugly and photograph badly. Some photographers believe that, like a mirror, cameras never lie. But I believe cameras do.

 It’s a well-known fact among filmmakers that cameras, in general, can make you look fatter than you actually are in real life. But the resulting photos are worse when you use your selfie simply because you are far too close to it. The fact is that people don’t see their own faces the way other people see them. In reality they are better looking than they think so if a selfie is telling them they look awful, it’s simply not true. But they get depressed and start doing drastic things to their faces in an effort to make themselves look better. It could be weird massages, extreme makeup and even dieting, hoping that the next selfie will be better. But in reality, they are already looking good to other people. And other people are the best judge of how you look and not your artificial camera lens.

 Taking selfies is clearly bad for your mental health, if you care about how you look in a photo. But having said this, there are countless people who do think they look great in their selfies and never miss a chance to take one even if it’s in front of a closed shop front in a shopping mall. Or if it’s by some escalator. I see them leaning against the railings trying to look cool. Or staring off camera to make the photo look candid. Or just holding their phones above their heads to make sure their food is in the shot as well whilst at the same time trying to look like they are having fun. Call me mean but I cannot tell you the number of times I have thought how bad, or how stupid, they look doing this but I also commend them for their high self-esteem. Good on them.

 But do these people also lack self-awareness? They don’t seem to mind taking selfies in front of the world. Nor do they seem to mind if they accidentally get some stranger in their shot because then they have to take the shot again. The irony is that these selfies end up being posted on their social media accounts to show their friends what a wonderful time they’re having. Even if they feel great about themselves, they may well have a friend who sees the photo of his or her friend enjoying themselves and then be reminded how bad they look in their selfies compared to their friend’s photos.