Killer Selfies

I’ve been saying it for years: friends don’t let friends use selfies.

And now the data is in.

According to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, there were 379 selfie-related deaths worldwide between 2008 and 2021. That’s more than 4 times the number of people who died by shark bite in the same period.

And still, that figure is probably an underestimate, because the numbers are pulled largely from media reports, which don’t cover all deaths and can be hard for researchers to find.

While selfies done wrong can risk your life, selfies done any way you like can risk your career. Using a selfie for your LinkedIn profile, webpage, or in a press release shouts that you did not feel it was worth going the extra quarter-mile to show up as your best self. A profile headshot done right can show off your unique spark, can represent you as what you want others to see, instead of just offering a visual identifier of you – which is also known as a mugshot.

So here is what friends do for friends:

1. Scroll your LinkedIn feed for 5 minutes. Look for friends who are using a selfie for their profile photo.
2. Write them a simple friendly message: “Hey, just scrolling through here and really don’t feel the image you are using for your profile does you justice. It doesn’t show you as the fun, attractive, charismatic person who you really are. You should think about investing in a pro headshot.”
3. If your friend lives in Vermont, you can recommend StoryWorkz as a place to clean up their act. If they don’t live her (#sadface), they can Google “professional headshot photographer near me” and that will get them moving in the right direction.

As a final aside, it turns out selfies are not only potentially deadly, they can also be costly. The Italian town of Portofino is now fining tourists about $275 if they are caught loitering at the town’s beauty spots to capture selfies. Basta!