Are we proud to be the #Selfiesthan?

The selfie trend which gained traction since the rise of smartphones with front cameras; has now amassed a popularity like no other. With people from all backgrounds and languages aware of the word and the action associated with it, the word selfie has gone on to become a powerful selling point in marketing communication. With smartphone manufacturers packing feature after feature to bump up their front camera capabilities just to sell their phone as the number one selfie phone.

But here is the Selfie problem. Selfies kill.
Some may find it hard to believe how a small seemingly harmless action like this can cause such heavy damage but here is the raw truth of selfie deaths.
India is home to the most selfie deaths in the world. It does not end there, India is also home to 60% of the global selfie deaths.


There is something going terribly wrong here, India has a lowly 20% smartphone penetration for its massive population and sadly a good number of people end up killing themselves with selfie deaths for doing something as normal as taking a picture.

   

So what was Gionee thinking when they made their ads calling India the 'Selfiesthan'.
What's in a selfie that one needs to be so proud of doing it?
What greatness is achieved by snapping a badly framed picture of your face with just 20% of the background behind you visible?
What's so special about Indians taking a selfies as compared to any other nationality doing it?



The sheer addiction to snapping a picture of yourself at a location has gotten utterly sickening. Kids, teens and middle aged adults using the word selfie at every damn outing makes you want to slap the phone out of their hands. Why do people have to take a selfie just because they went to the mall. Which also is not the only selfie of the day.

You took your

•  #OOTD selfie
• In the cab/car selfie
• The changing room selfie
• The friends together in the washroom selfie
• The lunch/dinner/starbucks cup selfie
• The goodnight/off to bed selfie

Changing and washroom selfies tend to delay others and cause losses for business. Restaurant patrons tend to leave the waiting area cause the gang of kids hogging the table just wont stop their selfie session. Teens today will spend an average of 5 minutes and 12 selfies to get the image that they are happy with. All this against the same background. 

So a little patience can let this go and we can take charge of our lives to ignore the selfie habits of others. But now here comes the scary part, the shocking story of the Nagpur boat accident that killed 7 people. So if you were on that boat with a friend or your partner, how are you going to go up against a gang of young boys in the middle of the lake, you've got to have all the patience and inner peace in the world to let them have their selfie session. Unfortunately this turned out ugly with the boat losing balance and overturning. The irresponsible attitude of most boating locations which conveniently put up notices all around saying they will not be responsible for any loss of goods and life, allows them to conveniently walk away from accidents like these. 

You walked into your own grave when you got on that boat. Thank you come again!

Safety!
A small word which saves lives but is taken very lightly. No one cares about the dangers of the waves at Bandstand, Haji Ali or Marine drive. No one cares about the cliff tops and valleys at hill stations. No one cares about the slippery rocks at waterfalls. No one cares about the dangers of clicking a selfie whilst riding a bike or driving a car. 

The ultimate selfie is all that matters to people today.
God/Good karma/Universe help you if you're ever stuck on a boat in the middle of the water with a bunch of callous selfie obsessed individuals. 

There are positive trends and then negative trends, both of these are popular with people and are like or viewed in a certain way depending of the person.

Brands should realise their power and back the right horse. 

Although they are promoting their phone's features in this ad, we appreciate Samsung for creating awareness about it.