[ti:Report Shows Deaths by Selfie on the Rise] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:02.04]"Selfie," taking a picture of yourself to post on social media, [00:09.80]became an official word in the Oxford dictionary in 2013. [00:17.28]The idea seems simple, [00:20.48]just pose and snap a photo of yourself with your cell phone camera. [00:28.36]How difficult could that be? [00:32.20]But in 2014 a reported 15 people died while taking selfies. [00:40.44]That number has risen each year since then. [00:46.96]Thirty-nine deaths connected to selfies were reported in 2015. [00:55.08]And, this year has seen more than 70 such deaths. [01:02.28]Researchers from universities in the U.S. and India [01:07.88]have released findings from the first study of deaths due to selfies. [01:15.84]The investigators examined the causes and characteristics of the deaths. [01:23.40]The researchers found that people who take selfies [01:29.03]for sharing on social media often have narcissistic tendencies. [01:37.12]The report says these people [01:40.41]"use selfies as a form of self-identification and expression." [01:47.96]They may take selfies in more dangerous settings [01:52.56]because they seek greater attention. [01:56.92]These dangerous situations can lead to injury, and even death. [02:03.64]The researchers define a selfie death [02:08.36]as "death of an individual or a group of people [02:13.40]that could have been avoided had the individual(s) not been taking a selfie." [02:21.48]One example of a dangerous selfie in the study involved bicycle races. [02:29.48]People sometimes get on the track to take a picture of themselves [02:35.60]with the racing bicycles behind them. [02:39.44]Crashes and injuries have resulted. [02:44.16]Another example described people standing on train tracks [02:49.95]trying to get a selfie as a train moves toward them from behind. [02:56.80]The most common cause of selfie death was falling from high places. [03:04.28]It caused 32 of the 172 deaths during the last two and one-half years. [03:14.48]Drowning was another common cause of death. [03:19.44]Other risk factors include transportation, [03:23.94]such as taking a selfie while walking on train tracks or driving a car. [03:31.72]Taking a selfie near electric lines also led to some of the deaths, [03:39.16]as did selfies taken with weapons and wild animals. [03:44.52]India reported 76 selfie deaths, the most of the countries studied. [03:53.08]And it might be more dangerous to be a man with a smartphone. [03:58.56]Although women take more selfies, [04:02.48]males were far more likely to die during selfies. [04:08.04]75.5% of the reported deaths were of men. [04:14.00]About one-third of the 172 reported selfie deaths had a single death [04:22.20]while 24 incidents involved the deaths of groups. [04:28.76]Two of the incidents killed seven people each. [04:34.40]Efforts are growing to prevent these deaths. [04:38.56]The study says there are now 16 places in Mumbai, India [04:45.68]established as "No Selfie Zones." [04:49.88]The Russian government also has started a "Safe Selfies" campaign [04:56.84]to warn people about risky selfies. [05:01.56]The website Selfie to Die For [05:05.00]asks visitors to take a promise not to risk their lives [05:10.44]and the lives of others while taking selfies. [05:15.20]The website also has tips for staying safe [05:20.32]while taking selfies and gives examples of people [05:25.28]who died from taking risky selfies. [05:29.76]Their Twitter account @selfietodiefor [05:34.36]offers tips for staying safe while taking selfies [05:39.32]and reports incidents of selfie deaths and injuries. [05:45.68]The full report is available at: [05:49.28]Me, Myself and My Killfie: [05:52.80]Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths. [05:57.96]I'm John Russell.