It has proved particularly dangerous to take a selfie on a cliff or roof edge or while swimming, with 30 of the 49 deaths caused in such ways, and a third of all overall deaths caused from falling. This is a fact that parallels the rise of “danger-photos” and urban exploration, with many dangling off buildings, climbing cranes or walking rooftop edges for photographs.

Russia also rolled out a large campaign recently targeted at reducing the number of deaths caused in their country in a such a way.

It’s important to remember that the 49 deaths explored in the study are only the known incidents, and there have almost certainly been more unreported selfie-related deaths that have occurred.

The studies have also interestingly shown that men are significantly more likely to die in this way than women, making up 36 of the 49 casualties.

Researchers at Ohio State have shown that men who regularly post selfies score significantly higher in “narcissism” and “psychopathy” in personality tests, and are therefore more likely to post dangerous selfies for validation from peers.

Quite unsurprisingly, the majority of the selfie deaths have been casualties from 18-23 years old, with 31 fitting into that bracket. Nobody over 32 years old has died from taking a selfie.

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