In a recent study published within the journal JMIR Formative Research, a bunch of researchers investigated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on selfie-related mortality trends by comparing the frequency and circumstances of fatal selfie incidents before and in the course of the pandemic.

Study: Social Media and Selfie-Related Mortality Amid COVID-19: Interrupted Time Series Evaluation. Image Credit: panophotograph / Shutterstock

Background 

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an inquiry into its impact on selfie-related mortality, part of utmost social media behaviors, as a consequence of observed pre-pandemic rising trends in such fatalities, primarily amongst young, risk-seeking individuals. Lockdowns and restrictions in the course of the pandemic potentially reduced such risks, revealing altered behaviors and associated dangers during global crises. Further research is imperative to raised understand the interactions between pandemics, social behaviors, and associated mortality risks to plan preventive strategies, considering the dynamic nature of social media behaviors and potential future pandemics.

Concerning the study

The researchers employed a quasi-experimental design to guage temporal trends in monthly selfie-related deaths in the course of the pandemic, analyzing occurrences from March 2014 to February 2020 after which from March 2020 to April 2021, marking the primary yr of the pandemic. Most countries initiated lockdowns and enforced travel restrictions during this primary yr following the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. 

To discover selfie-related deaths, the researchers conducted Google searches using terms reminiscent of “death,” “selfie,” and “mortality,” specializing in incidents reported in web-based English media globally. The Wikipedia selfie-related death registry was also referenced to catch any ignored reports. The standards for a selfie-related death included unintentional death of people attempting to take a selfie or anyone else involved within the incident while excluding nonfatal selfie injuries and incidents with unreported months of death. Pertinent details reminiscent of country, date, reason for death, and the demographic information of the victim were meticulously recorded.

For statistical evaluation, interrupted time series regression was applied to look at the monthly variations in the whole variety of selfie-related deaths before and in the course of the pandemic. Employing autoregressive models facilitated monitoring trends within the monthly variety of selfie-related deaths and controlling for correlation and seasonality within the variety of deaths between months. This method is deemed optimal for discerning the impacts of sudden unplanned events, enabling a strong exploration of trends in selfie-related deaths in the course of the distinct phases of the pandemic.

Study results 

Between March 2014 and April 2021, the researchers identified a complete of 332 selfie-related deaths, with 18, or 5.4%, occurring in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vast majority of victims were males, accounting for 66.6% of the whole, and were predominantly under the age of 40, comprising 89.2%. The nations recording the very best instances of selfie-related fatalities were India with 46.1%, the USA (U.S.) with 8.4%, and Russia with 6.0%. The demographic distribution, pertaining to sex, age, and country, of selfie-related deaths remained consistent before and in the course of the pandemic. 

In examining the causes of those deaths, drowning emerged as probably the most frequent cause, constituting 35.5% of the whole deaths, followed by falls at 30.4% and transport-related injuries at 20.5%. Falls became notably prevalent in the course of the pandemic, accounting for 61.1% of deaths in this era. Prior to the pandemic, falls and drowning were significant contributors to selfie-related deaths, each accounting for 28.7% and 36.6%, respectively.

There was a notable, regular monthly increase within the variety of selfie-related deaths from March 2014 to February 2020, which experienced a pointy decline with the appearance of the pandemic. The pre-pandemic period recorded a median of 4.3 selfie-related deaths monthly, showing a minor monthly increase of 0.006 deaths. Nevertheless, in the course of the pandemic, this average decreased to 1.3 deaths monthly. The implementation of lockdown measures in March 2020 alone resulted in a discount of two.6 deaths. Subsequently, the variety of selfie-related deaths experienced a monthly decrease of 0.05 throughout the pandemic. Nevertheless, this trend didn’t attain statistical significance, attributed to the low variety of deaths and the shorter duration of follow-up in the course of the pandemic.

This study meticulously explores selfie-related deaths amidst the worldwide health crisis of COVID-19, revealing a notable decrease in such fatalities. This underscores the unintended influence of pandemic-induced lockdowns and travel restrictions on dangerous social media behaviors. The extensive evaluation across diverse nations and demographics enriches understanding of this phenomenon, providing insights critical for devising preventative measures and techniques in public health and digital behaviors to navigate the intricate intersection of social media use and associated risks, particularly in unprecedented global scenarios.

Conclusions

To summarize, the study uncovers how the pandemic-induced lockdowns and restrictions seemingly decreased global selfie-related mortality, an unexpected influence on unintentional injuries, despite increased social media engagement during this era. The findings indicate that opportunities for dangerous selfies were limited, whilst social media remained a primary source of knowledge and social connections. It indicates that traditional preventative measures like no-selfie zones and barriers haven’t significantly curbed selfie-related deaths, pointing towards a necessity for novel, effective preventative strategies, possibly specializing in mobility and tourism, to administer risks related to selfie-taking in hazardous settings, while considering the observed behavioral shifts during global crises.