It seems a lot more goes into taking the "perfect" selfie than we might realize. From stopping traffic, to posing naked in the snow, influencers have been caught in various precarious positions. All in the name of the gram. While some of the pics here are funny, others are no laughing matter. 

Selfies can be deadly. You're actually more likely to die taking a selfie than from a shark bite. That’s if the statistics from a 2021 study are anything to go by. According to the study, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, there were at least 379 selfie-related deaths worldwide between 2008 and 2021. In comparison, 90 people died in shark attacks during the same period.

India had the most selfie-related deaths, followed by America and Russia. While the top causes of death were falls from height, transport and drowning. "Travellers are often affected because of the desire to ‘be cool’, i.e. to post photos on social media and get rewards in the form of likes and comments," said the researchers.

They warned against wreckless behavior when trying to get a great shot for social media. “In this era of experiential travel and the urge to take a selfie that outdoes the rest, travellers are taking dangerous risks that cannot be justified in terms of the number of Instagram followers that they might gain in the process.”

In one of the most recent incidents, a 24-year-old TikTok star had their final moments captured on camera. Arina Glazunova died after tripping over a low wall in Tbilisi, Georgia while filming a video for social media. The Russian was filmed by her friend skipping and singing, before plunging into a subway. She died in hospital shortly after the incident.

A few months earlier, a 27-year-old travel influencer fell to her death in India. Aanvi Kamdar had been filming footage of a 300-foot waterfall in India during monsoon season. She slipped down a gorge before she could share the video to her Instagram account.

Rescue workers struggled to get to her, and described the conditions as "treacherous". "She fell on the hard, slippery patch of rocks around 300 ft into the valley and couldn't be spotted initially," said one of the rescuers. "She was sent up using a stretcher attached to rappelling ropes. Six rescuers climbed down the hill, while another 50 assisted atop the hillock." Kamdar was taken to hospital after the 6-hour rescue mission. But died shortly after being admitted.

Yet another content creator died in April, after slipping off a viewing platform while taking a selfie in Georgia. Inessa Polenko had climbed over a barrier at the Gagry viewing point. The 39-year-old fell onto a beach below and succumbed to her injuries in hospital.

In Indonesia, a 43-year-old man fell to his death while taking a selfie on a cliff in Bali. "The victim arrived at the Broken Beach tourist attraction at 16.30pm, then the victim took a position on the edge of the cliff to take a photo with his back to the Broken Beach photo object," read a police statement.

Police said the man's tour guide grabbed Abhishek Bhatia's leg but "because of the victim's body weight" they could not hold on and the man fell to the bottom of the cliff. His body was retrieved later that evening.

The researchers made recommendations in their paper on how they believe "death by selfie" can be avoided. "Travel medicine practitioners should routinely counsel travellers on responsible self-photography during international travel and should include this advice in printed material provided," they said.

"The travel and mobile phone industries should reinforce these health promotion messages. Future research should offer greater insights into selfie-taking behaviour among travellers."

Samuel Cornell has conducted a separate study on the issue, focusing on Australia. He agrees that there's not enough awareness. "Selfie-related injuries and deaths may be a relatively new phenomenon, but data suggest they are a public health hazard that is not going away," said Cornell.

"Emergency medicine practitioners may have a role to play in the primary and secondary prevention of selfie incidents, including delivering opportunistic behaviour change messaging to those who are at risk of being injured or killed in a selfie-related incident, particularly young (14–25 years) males."

Whether you're taking a quick snap to share with friends, or you're an influencer raking in thousands for your content, think carefully before posing for a photo in a precarious position. Ask yourself what the "money shot" you're after is really worth. And remember, there's no point in clocking up likes, shares and follows, if you aren't around to reap the rewards.