Selfitis: This man takes 200 selfies every day
A man who is addicted to taking selfies has said that he takes more than 200 a day may suffer from a condition called Selfitis.
Junaid Ahmed, who boasts a 50,000-strong following on Instagram said to Newsbeat that he cannot stop taking to photographs and will routinely delete the pictures if they do not get enough likes.
“When I post a picture, in the first minute or two I’ll probably get 100 likes and I love it, my phone goes crazy, it’s just amazing,” said the social media enthusiast to Newsbeat.
The 22-year-old also says that he is so keen on taking the snaps that his family and friends have started to butt heads with him over the frequency that he takes a photograph of himself.
“They’re like ‘can’t you go to a meal and not take a picture?,” he said.
“And I’m like ‘no, I didn’t get ready for three hours for no reason’. Why would I not take a picture?”
And in a time where fewer people are opting to get plastic surgery due to the fact that they can alter their face on face-tuning apps, more people are turning to the digital world for aesthetic validation.
However, Ahmed said that the need for the perfect selfie has gotten to him, and he has embarked upon an aesthetic “upgrade” in order to achieve the perfect selfie.
“Years ago I never used to look like this. I used to be quite natural. But I just think with the obsession with social media… I want to upgrade myself now.
“I’ve had my teeth veneered, chin filler, cheek filler, jawline filler, lip filler, botox under the eyes and on the head, tattooed eyebrows and fat freezing.”
According to research conducted by Nottingham Trent University and the Thiagarajar School of Management in India, Ahmed is not alone in being addicted to selfies.
In fact, the chronic addiction to selfies has been named Selfitis by the academic institutions, who noted out of the 400 survey participants that Selfitis sufferers typically seeking to increase their self-confidence, seek attention, improve their mood, connect with the environment around them (to create a record of memories), increase their conformity with the social group around them, as well as being socially competitive.
And now for the million dollar question – do you have Selfitis?
According to the study, there are three different levels of the condition:
Borderline:
Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day but not posting them on social media
Acute:
Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day and posting each one on social media
Chronic:
Uncontrollable urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock and posting the photos on social media more than six times a day
The study advises you, using the statements below, to rate your selfies 1-5, where 5 is strongly agree, and 1 is strongly disagree.
The higher your score, the greater the likelihood is that you suffer from selfitis.
- Taking selfies gives me a good feeling to better enjoy my environment
- Sharing my selfies creates healthy competition with my friends and colleagues
- I gain enormous attention by sharing my selfies on social media
- I am able to reduce my stress level by taking selfies
- I feel confident when I take a selfie
- I gain more acceptance among my peer group when I take selfies and share them on social media
- I am able to express myself more in my environment through selfies
- Taking different selfie poses helps increase my social status
- I feel more popular when I post my selfies on social media
- Taking more selfies improves my mood and makes me feel happy
- I become more positive about myself when I take selfies
- I become a strong member of my peer group through selfie postings
- Taking selfies provides better memories about the occasion and the experience
- I post frequent selfies to get more ‘likes’ and comments on social media
- By posting selfies, I expect my friends to appraise me
- Taking selfies instantly modifies my mood
- I take more selfies and look at them privately to increase my confidence
- When I don’t take selfies, I feel detached from my peer group
- I take selfies as trophies for future memories
- I use photo editing tools to enhance my selfie to look better than others
