National Selfie Day

National Selfie Day Facts

• Artists Were Taking “Selfies” Centuries Before Cameras Existed

  Long before smartphones, artists used painted self-portraits to explore their identity and status.

  From the mid‑15th century onward, European painters like Jan van Eyck and Albrecht Dürer increasingly turned the brush on themselves, aided by better mirrors and advances in perspective.

  Art historians see this boom in self-portraiture as a turning point when representing one’s own face became a distinct and meaningful genre rather than an occasional curiosity.

• One Of The Earliest Photographic Self-Portraits Dates To 1839

  One of the first known photographic self-portraits was made by American photographer Robert Cornelius in October 1839 in Philadelphia.

  Using the early daguerreotype process, he uncapped the lens, ran into the frame, and sat still for around a minute before covering the lens again.

  The image, now held by the Library of Congress, is often cited as both an early selfie and one of the earliest photographic portraits ever taken in the United States.

• “Selfie” Became Oxford’s Word Of The Year In 2013

  The word “selfie” only entered mainstream English in the 2010s, but its rise was so rapid that Oxford Dictionaries named it Word of the Year in 2013.

  Oxford traced the earliest known written use to an Australian internet forum post from 2002 and noted that use of “selfie” in English-language texts had increased by roughly 17,000 percent between 2012 and 2013, reflecting how quickly smartphone self-portraits had gone global.

• Unedited Selfies May Be Neutral Or Helpful For Self‑Esteem

  Psychological studies suggest that merely taking and posting selfies is not automatically bad for self‑esteem and can even correlate with more positive body image in some groups.

  Research summarized by the British Psychological Society found that frequent selfie sharing was linked with better self-image and less body shame, while the real risk factor was heavy investment in editing and retouching, which was associated with greater self‑objectification, anxiety, and body dissatisfaction.

• Motives For Posting Selfies Shape Their Impact On Well‑Being

  A 2023 review of selfie research found that why people post selfies matters as much as how often they do it.

  Using selfies mainly to document experiences or exchange information with friends tends to be associated with better psychological well‑being, while posting for appearance-based validation or constant comparison can be linked with lower self‑esteem and more negative mood.

  The same behavior can therefore be neutral, beneficial, or harmful depending on the underlying motive.

• Hundreds Of People Have Died In Selfie‑Related Accidents

  Medical researchers who analyzed global news reports found at least 259 selfie‑related deaths in 137 incidents between October 2011 and November 2017, with the true toll likely higher because “selfie” is not listed on death certificates.

  Drowning, transportation accidents (often involving trains or vehicles), and falls from heights were the leading causes, and the median age of victims was just 23, underscoring how risky photographing oneself near hazards can be. 

• India Accounts For The Majority Of Documented Deadly Selfies

  The same landmark study on selfie fatalities reported that 159 of the 259 recorded deaths between 2011 and 2017 occurred in India, far more than in any other country.

  Researchers linked this concentration to a combination of high smartphone adoption, a large youth population, crowded tourist sites, and risky behavior near water and railway tracks.

  The findings have prompted calls for designated “no selfie zones” and targeted safety campaigns in popular destinations.