It was back in 2013 that ‘selfie’ was named the 2013 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. The first use of the term was credited to an Aussie who was describing a photograph he took of himself after falling over drunk after a twenty first birthday celebration. That photograph was taken in 2002 so it only took eleven years from its first recorded use to being such a part of everyday language that it was acknowledged as the word of the year. If being included in the Oxford Dictionary was not enough proof of universal acceptance, the following year it was officially accepted for use in Scrabble.

With an Aussie having created the term, it only seems appropriate that we now lead the world in selfies. We can’t win a game of soccer or cricket or rugby so we needed to find something we excel at. And we do excel.

Across the world it was estimated that 24 billion selfies were taken last year. Australians managed to rack up 742 million of those selfies. For a country that only makes up 0.32 per cent of the world population we clocked up an incredible 3.09 per cent of the selfies across the world. That means Aussies are snapping selfies at almost ten times the rate of the rest of the world. The US and Canada come in at number two and three.

While I will proudly take the victory for the country in any category, what is more interesting is what people are doing when they take selfies. Aussies, in particular, have admitted to snapping a selfie at an inappropriate time. The number one inappropriate selfie category is while naked, on the toilet or having sex. Twelve per cent of Aussies drop into this category. Eleven per cent said they have taken selfies while extremely drunk. In some ways this gives a nod to the invention of the word selfie as alcohol was integral to the first usage. Seven per cent have taken a snap while doing something illegal or when stopped by Police. Probably not that smart to do something illegal. Incredibly dumb to take indisputable photographic evidence of the illegal act! Two per cent of Aussies said they have taken a selfie while at an accident scene. He wasn’t Aussie but you may remember the recent example of a woman who had been hit by a train at Piacenza station in northern Italy. Her leg was so badly damaged that it required amputation. While shy lay on the tracks being treated by paramedics, a bystander decided it was a good time to position a selfie with the woman in the background and give the peace sign to his followers! The Police had a chat to him!

While it would also seem entirely inappropriate, one per cent of Aussies have taken a selfie at a funeral. The first female Prime Minister in Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, became famous when she snapped a selfie with Barack Obama and David Cameron. For three world leaders it sounded like a fun thing to do – except she did it at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. While ninety nine per cent of us would not think of taking a selfie at a funeral, Thorning-Schmidt later reflected on the selfie and the negative and positive commentary. In her words, “Because it made me so famous, I tend to think it was a good thing.”

And that explains a lot.

Why are people taking selfies. Research shows that those who take a large number of selfies are overestimating how good looking and likable they are. You would think that a Prime Minister would be above this but apparently not.

The average Millennial will take 25,000 selfies in their lifetime. For a word that was first seen in print in 2002 and was officially recognised only five years ago, it seems to already be all-consuming. And that is the march of technology!

Mathew Dickerson

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