Published on by Matthew H. Nash
Social media sites like Instagram are fundamentally altering the way we interact and engage with our world. We are more connected than ever, and the ability to share our lives can be great to keep in touch with friends and family. However, there is a darker side to social media. The way we interact with our digital spaces has come under scrutiny by many people who see dangerous trends becoming more and more common.
For this study, we surveyed 1,233 active Instagram users located in the United States aged 18 to 40. The goal was to get insight into how users interact with social media and the connection between engagement and risky behaviors.
While our survey was specific to the Instagram app, it’s reasonable to draw conclusions about other social media sites such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and more when discussing high-risk behavior and social media validation.
In the process of conducting this survey, we also compiled the most comprehensive and up-to-date database of 399 selfie death incidents worldwide.
We asked our participants several questions regarding their Instagram use and risk-averse vs risk-tolerant behavior to see if we could identify patterns. Does a preoccupation with Instagram make someone more likely to engage in risky behavior for “likes”?
We want to know: Is a need for online validation actually making the real world more dangerous?
Summary of Key Findings
- Of the Instagram users surveyed, 10% have been injured or know someone personally who has been injured or died while taking a picture for Instagram or other social media.
- Of the Instagram users surveyed, 10% are willing to risk their safety while taking a photo of themselves or someone else if it meant they would be guaranteed an increase in Instagram followers, and 13% would stand next to the edge of a cliff if it meant an increase in followers.
- Those who indicated that they post a selfie at least once a week or more were over 220% more likely than average to put themselves at risk for a guaranteed increase in Instagram followers.
- Instagram users with over 1,000 followers compared to users with under 1,000 followers:
- 22% (over 1 in 5) were willing to risk their safety while taking a photo for Instagram if it meant it would double their followers (2.2x more likely than average).
- 2x as likely to stand near the edge of a cliff while taking a photo for Instagram if it meant it would double their followers.
- 2x as likely to have been physically injured while taking a photo for Instagram.
- 20% have been injured or know someone personally who has been injured or died while taking a photo for Instagram than those with under 1,000 followers.
- Women with over 1,000 Instagram followers were the most likely to have spent money on fake Instagram followers (11% compared to the average 4%). They were also significantly more likely to engage in risky behavior to increase their following.
- Of the Instagram users surveyed, an average of 43% would change their current career path if they could earn a full-time income by posting photos of themselves as an “Instagram Influencer.”
Survey Results: How Far Will People Go For Social Media?
Questions 1. & 2. Of the Instagram users surveyed, 1 in 10 have been injured or knows someone personally who has been injured or died while taking pictures for social media
10% is a staggering number of people who have been or know someone who has been injured for social media. This percentage gets at the heart of what we wanted to discover with this study. The fact that social media is changing and shaping behavior is not surprising. But what is surprising is the lengths that people are willing to go to for “likes” and virtual engagement.
We asked our participants:
Have you ever gotten injured while taking a photo for Instagram or other social media?
And,
Do you know someone personally who has gotten injured or died while taking a photo for Instagram or other social media?
10% as an average of those who had been injured or knew someone who had been injured is high, but this percentage rose dramatically for those who have over 1,000 followers: 20% of Instagram users with over a thousand followers know someone who has been injured or died or has personally been injured themselves while taking selfies for social media.
Age and gender also seem to play a factor. 14.5% of 18-to-24-year-olds know someone who has died or been injured or has been injured themselves for Instagram. 11.3% of men across all demographics know someone who has died or been injured, compared to 8.8% of women. Age is not a particularly surprising factor, as adolescents are historically prone to risky behavior, and the impact of social media on adolescent mental health and dangerous behavior is currently being evaluated by the psychiatric and scientific community.
Those who posted selfies more than once per week were more than twice as likely as the average person to know someone who had been injured or killed while taking pictures for social media and over three times as likely as the average person to have injured themselves while taking pictures for social media.
Additionally, those who had paid for followers were nearly three times as likely (27%) as the average person to know someone who had gotten injured or died while taking pictures for social media or having incurred injury themselves.
Question 2. Of the Instagram users surveyed, 10% (1 in 10) were willing to risk their safety if it meant more followers
We asked our survey participants:
How likely are you to risk your safety while taking a photo of yourself or someone else if it meant you would be guaranteed to DOUBLE your current number of Instagram followers within a week of posting?
We wanted to format this question to capture a significant, but not unreasonably significant, increase in followers. One that would be consistent across all participants, as our survey participants ranged in follower counts from under a thousand to 50,000+.
Of the participants, 10% were likely or very likely to risk their safety while taking a photo of themselves or others to increase their Instagram followers. Those who indicated that they post a selfie at least once a week or more were 3.2x more likely to put themselves at risk for increased Instagram engagement.
Those with Instagram followings over 1,000 were significantly more likely to take potentially dangerous photographs. Women with over 1,000 followers were 2.2x more likely, and men with over 1,000 followers were 2.4x more likely to risk their safety for a bump in followers.
Question 3. Those who frequently post selfies were 3.2x more likely than average to put themselves at risk for more followers
We asked survey participants:
In the past six months, how often have you posted a photo of yourself to Instagram?
The majority (45%) indicated that they post pictures of themselves a few times per month, 30% said never, 17% said more than once a month, 7% more than once a week, and 1% said they post photos of themselves daily. For that 8% who post more than once a week, we saw a sharp rise in risky behavior.
32% of those who post selfies once a week or more indicated that they would risk their safety to take a photo that would double their Instagram followers, and 30% said they would stand next to the edge of a cliff if it meant doubling their Instagram following. Over 27% of participants who posted selfies at least once a week indicated that they themselves have been injured or they know someone who has been injured or died while taking pictures for Instagram.
Question 4. Instagram users with over 1,000 followers are significantly more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors for social media
We asked survey participants:
How likely are you to stand near the edge of a cliff for a photo of yourself or someone else if it meant you would be guaranteed to DOUBLE your current number of Instagram followers within a week of posting?
Deaths related to falling off of cliffs and other scenic landmarks are becoming tragically more and more common thanks to risky behavior associated with social media. We wanted to ask our participants to gauge their likelihood of participating in this kind of risky behavior if it would mean a bump in Instagram followers.
Of the participants surveyed, an average of 13% indicated that they were likely or very likely to stand on the edge of a cliff to increase their Instagram followers. Instagram users that posted selfies at least once a week were 2.3x more likely than average to engage in this behavior.
28% of women with over a thousand Instagram followers and 26% of men with over a thousand followers indicated that they would stand next to a cliff for a photo, which are both over twice as likely as the average participant. In fact, throughout the entirety of the survey, risk-taking behavior was often associated with higher follower counts, though we don’t infer causation.
Question 5. Women with over 1,000 Instagram followers are the most likely to have paid for Instagram followers (11% compared to the average of 4%)
We asked survey participants:
Have you ever paid for Instagram followers?
The willingness of our participants to pay real-world money for Instagram followers interested us in terms of how it impacted their risk-tolerant behaviors. Are the people who spend money on their social media following more likely to engage in riskier behaviors to boost their social media validation?
Only 4% of those surveyed admitted to paying for followers, but of that 4%, we found some interesting things. Men and women were pretty equally split on Instagram follower purchases overall, with women purchasing Instagram followers 4% of the time and men purchasing them 3% of the time.
Those with over a thousand followers were 2.25x more likely to have bought Instagram followers, and women with over 1,000 followers were 2.75x more likely to have purchased Instagram followers.
Of those who have paid for Instagram followers, they were twice as likely as average to know someone who has been injured or died while taking a photo for Instagram or social media.
Surprisingly, those who made under $10,000 annually were twice as likely as the average to have paid for followers on Instagram.
Question 6. Those who post selfies at least once a week were 2.8x more likely than the average user to travel or go to a location specifically for an “Instagrammable” photo
We asked survey participants:
How likely are you to travel to a location specifically to get an “Instagrammable” photo?
We were curious to see what lengths our participants are willing to go for social media engagement. Would they be willing to travel or even just take a road trip somewhere for a nice picture? And if so, what does this mean for Instagram behaviors?
36% of overall participants indicated that they were likely or very likely to travel to a location specifically to get a photo for Instagram. This was pretty consistent across genders, with women indicating 37% likely or very likely, and men indicating 35% likely or very likely.
Those who post selfies at least once a week were almost twice as likely as the average participant to travel for an Instagrammable photo. This is an insightful look into how social media is shaping our time and approach to leisure activities and how we spend our expendable income.
Question 7. The majority of people surveyed said they “feel a rush when I receive more likes than average on my Instagram photos”
We asked survey participants:
How much do you agree or disagree with this statement, “I feel a rush when I receive more likes than average on my Instagram photos”?
61% of participants said they agree or strongly agree with the idea of feeling a rush when they receive more than the average amount of likes on Instagram photos. This is unsurprising since social media is literally engineered to increase dopamine production.
Women with over 1,000 followers and those who had paid for followers (of both genders) were the most likely demographic to feel a rush when they received more than average likes at a staggering 81%.
Question 8. Of the Instagram users surveyed, 43% would be willing to change their current career path if they could earn a full-time income posting photos of themselves as an “Instagram Influencer”
We asked survey participants:
How likely are you to change your current career path if you could earn a full-time income posting photos of yourself as an “Instagram Influencer”?
43% of our survey participants indicated that they were likely or very likely to leave their current career path if they could become a social media influencer full-time who specializes in selfies and self-promoting photography.
The participants with more Instagram followers were the most likely to choose a social media influencer career path over their current one. 67% of men and 60% of women with over a thousand followers indicated they would become full-time influencers.
Interestingly, those who identified as students were the least likely to choose this career path if it were offered to them, at only 34%.
Resources for Social Media Safety
- Practice Safe Selfies
- Family Online Safety Institute | Exercise Safety When Taking Selfies
- Selfie Safety – Safer Tourism Foundation
- A checklist for taking safe selfies
Conclusion
TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media sites are fundamentally changing how we relate to each other and how we live our lives. Academics and safety professionals are recognizing and analyzing this trend, as well as calling for public safety measures like “No selfie zones” and increased safety measures and education.
If you’re interested in learning more about the devastating impact of selfie culture, check out our comprehensive Global Selfie Death Database.