The picture above may be for effect purposes only and nice to pass off as a gimmick. But unfortunately its no longer a joke as more often than ever before we do read about incidents of otherwise normal people losing their lives trying to take selfies in the most odd places or situations.

What were they trying to prove and who were they trying to prove to ..and WHY did they need to prove ?

One often wonders, where this sudden trend caught on ever since phone cameras made taking pictures an  impulsive or spontaneous decision ..whenever, wherever. Today you can barely walk  into a mall, a restaurant or a public place with an interesting backdrop, before bumping into a group or couple of individual talking selfies and all trying to squeeze into that little frame and give their best smiles.

And then all just waiting for those pics to be posted on social media and the wait to check for the likes and comments – the wow’s or you guys look cool, share more pics..

And the demand for ” share more pics”  and ” more likes ” fuels the ever growing need to click you whenever you feel like – alone or in a group.

I often smile as I pass such groups and rather than smirk at this pastime, much rather choose to look at the positive side of it that people have such fun squeezing together and laughing away as the lovely ” selfie” is taken. And being happy 🙂 Which is also so important in this stressful world of work and life.

But I often wonder that while Social media has changed the rules of the game , are we just being sucked into and feeding this  frenzy ?

• Are we just becoming a lot more self obsessed as a community? The I, me, myself, my family, my circle syndrome?
• How often do people who pass by an accident site, do nothing beyond slow down a bit, before charging off the scene ? Spectators just stand around, some even taking pics !! How gross is that ??
• Are we always “more” concerned about what others think of us than what “we think of ourselves “?
• Do we measure our status based on the number of likes or friends ( does not matter than 90 % of them are not real friends, but acquaintances ) ? 
• Are we losing that wonderful “personal touch ” and our communication being reduced to 1 line  bday, anniversary or festival  greetings  or forwards on FB, whatsapp or messaging ? Job done , now back to ME 🙂
• Are our social skills taking a beating? One rarely comes across a gadget free discussion these days,as they tend to be the biggest distraction to a proper eye to eye conversation that shows we are 100% in the conversation.

Quite obviously this selfie /self  mania is unlikely to go away in a hurry, with even powerful people wanting this constant ego massage . And it has its pros and cons.

But as long as we realize that more sharing of our knowledge, experiences and learnings,  skills or time can help make a difference and empower others  beyond our current sphere of influence, we would have begun our journey from  being a more ” self obsessed ” people.

Examples of doctors and a few people I know who work so selflessly, be it helping poor patients, spending time with HIV infected,differently abled or orphaned youngsters, or those who fight for the environment or to save our cities inspire me. For them there sure is a life and a cause beyond ” me “.

And make me look at each day as a gift and see how I  too can try and make some positive difference using my talents and more importantly by making time.

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