Have you ever wondered what it takes to get the perfect shot for Instagram? When it comes to influencers, it seems some will quite literally go to great heights to take a good selfie. Sometimes risking it all for the "money shot" does pay off. But other times, doing dumb stuff for "the gram" can land you in deep trouble. And you could even end up paying with your life.
If you ever needed a reason to think before you shoot, look no further than Instagram page Influencers In The Wild. With over 5.3 million followers, it's a place where "the creators are the content". A wicked wall of posts from people who spotted others posing in weird, funny, silly and sometimes dangerous positions. Bored Panda has put together our all time favorites from the page. Keep scrolling, upvote your faves and let us know what you think these influencers were thinking.
#1 Good Morning Sunshines
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#2 This Video Was Doomed From The Start
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#3 I’ll Ask You Again, Are You Willing To Die For Your Content?
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It seems a lot more goes into taking the "perfect" selfie than we might realize. From stopping traffic, to posing naked in the snow, influencers have been caught in various precarious positions. All in the name of the gram. While some of the pics here are funny, others are no laughing matter.
Selfies can be deadly. You're actually more likely to die taking a selfie than from a shark bite. That’s if the statistics from a 2021 study are anything to go by. According to the study, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, there were at least 379 selfie-related deaths worldwide between 2008 and 2021. In comparison, 90 people died in shark attacks during the same period.
#4 I Don’t Know What’s Happening Here, But I Love It
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#5 Hope She Remembered To Make A Wish
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#6 * Alien Voice* What Is A Foodie
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India had the most selfie-related deaths, followed by America and Russia. While the top causes of death were falls from height, transport and drowning. "Travellers are often affected because of the desire to ‘be cool’, i.e. to post photos on social media and get rewards in the form of likes and comments," said the researchers.
They warned against wreckless behavior when trying to get a great shot for social media. “In this era of experiential travel and the urge to take a selfie that outdoes the rest, travellers are taking dangerous risks that cannot be justified in terms of the number of Instagram followers that they might gain in the process.”
#7 Sir This Is What The Zoom Feature Is For
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#8 Literally An Influencer In The Wild
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#9 Be Careful Out There Y’all. Know Your Surroundings, Respect Your Surroundings
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In one of the most recent incidents, a 24-year-old TikTok star had their final moments captured on camera. Arina Glazunova died after tripping over a low wall in Tbilisi, Georgia while filming a video for social media. The Russian was filmed by her friend skipping and singing, before plunging into a subway. She died in hospital shortly after the incident.
#10 There’s Stupid. And Then There’s Stupid
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#11 Influencer In The Wild
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#12 This Could Not Have Gone Any Better
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A few months earlier, a 27-year-old travel influencer fell to her death in India. Aanvi Kamdar had been filming footage of a 300-foot waterfall in India during monsoon season. She slipped down a gorge before she could share the video to her Instagram account.
Rescue workers struggled to get to her, and described the conditions as "treacherous". "She fell on the hard, slippery patch of rocks around 300 ft into the valley and couldn't be spotted initially," said one of the rescuers. "She was sent up using a stretcher attached to rappelling ropes. Six rescuers climbed down the hill, while another 50 assisted atop the hillock." Kamdar was taken to hospital after the 6-hour rescue mission. But died shortly after being admitted.
#13 Pole. Glass High Heels. Low Tide. Garbage Truck. Yep, This Is A Perfect Video
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#14 Was She Watching Old Seinfeld Episodes??
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#15 It’s A $4 Hamburger Dude
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Yet another content creator died in April, after slipping off a viewing platform while taking a selfie in Georgia. Inessa Polenko had climbed over a barrier at the Gagry viewing point. The 39-year-old fell onto a beach below and succumbed to her injuries in hospital.
#16 Babe Just Got Baptized
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#17 “So A Lot Of You Guys Have Been Asking About My Flight Routine”
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#18 Cold Plunge Time
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In Indonesia, a 43-year-old man fell to his death while taking a selfie on a cliff in Bali. "The victim arrived at the Broken Beach tourist attraction at 16.30pm, then the victim took a position on the edge of the cliff to take a photo with his back to the Broken Beach photo object," read a police statement.
Police said the man's tour guide grabbed Abhishek Bhatia's leg but "because of the victim's body weight" they could not hold on and the man fell to the bottom of the cliff. His body was retrieved later that evening.
#19 How Do You Say “No” In Italian?
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#20 Influencers In The Wind
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#21 Beware Of Moe’s Horns. It Says It Right There On The Sign
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The researchers made recommendations in their paper on how they believe "death by selfie" can be avoided. "Travel medicine practitioners should routinely counsel travellers on responsible self-photography during international travel and should include this advice in printed material provided," they said.
"The travel and mobile phone industries should reinforce these health promotion messages. Future research should offer greater insights into selfie-taking behaviour among travellers."
#22 One Wolf Approaches One Human 40,000 Years Ago In Hopes Of Some Food And Companionship, And Here Is Where We Wound Up
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#23 *Waze Voice* Influencer Traffic Up Ahead
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#24 Influencers Are Returning To The Ocean. Nature Is Healing
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Samuel Cornell has conducted a separate study on the issue, focusing on Australia. He agrees that there's not enough awareness. "Selfie-related injuries and deaths may be a relatively new phenomenon, but data suggest they are a public health hazard that is not going away," said Cornell.
"Emergency medicine practitioners may have a role to play in the primary and secondary prevention of selfie incidents, including delivering opportunistic behaviour change messaging to those who are at risk of being injured or killed in a selfie-related incident, particularly young (14–25 years) males."
#25 Why Else Would You Have Kids?
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#26 Making Montreal Look Good
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#27 Camera Always Eat First!
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Whether you're taking a quick snap to share with friends, or you're an influencer raking in thousands for your content, think carefully before posing for a photo in a precarious position. Ask yourself what the "money shot" you're after is really worth. And remember, there's no point in clocking up likes, shares and follows, if you aren't around to reap the rewards.
#28 The Girl Has Her Priorities Straight, I Know That Much
Police officer: Hands behind your back, please.
Woman: Can I post this first?
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#29 If You Hold Up NYC Traffic To Get A Pic For Instagram, I’m Not Saying The Driver Should Be Allowed To Hit You. I’m Not Saying That At All. But Maybe A Little Bump?
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#30 How Was The Vacation? It Was Great, We Went To The Beach, Kailee Got Like 35 Pictures Of Her Butt, We Went To Dinner, Oh We Went Jetskiing
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#31 *Pilot Over The Loud Speaker* “Sorry Folks We’re Gonna Be A Little Delayed For Take Off. We Have An Aspiring Influencer Who Is Willing To Die For Content In One Of The Jet Engines.”
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#32 I Literally Demand To See The Final Shot
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#33 Every Day We Stray Further From God’s Light
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#34 The Mountain Ranger Had To Go Over And Ask Her To Stop Because There Were Kids Around Because Its A Public Mountain
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#35 People. Don’t Do This. Please Be Careful Out There
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#36 When A Wall Is More Popular Than Their Insta Accounts
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#37 That’s A Big Nope
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#38 Ma’am Do You Mind We’re Trying To Eat And Not Fight For The Entire Remainder Of The Vacation Thanks
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#39 This Is Dedication
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#40 Girl, Don’t Drag Buddha Into This
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#41 Risking It All For The Gram
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#42 This Could Be Us, But I’m Scared Of Heights
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#43 There Was A Tidal Wave Of New Followers After She Posted This Pic
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#44 I’m Not Gonna Lie, When Coachella Got Canceled, I Was Upset. From The Perspective Of Content Only
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#45 This Is Totally Appropriate Right?
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#46 God Save The Queen
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#47 That Pic Is Gonna Be Fire Tho
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#48 What Have We Become
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#49 Self Discovery Is So Important
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#50 What More Can I Say
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#51 The Juxtaposition Between The Bikini And The Snow Is Pure Poetry
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#52 Let’s Take A Break From The Heavy Stuff. Here’s A Good Old Fashioned Wave Smash
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#53 God Did
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#54 The Person Driving That Car Is An Actual Saint. Didn’t Even Honk
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#55 I Can’t Say I Wouldn’t Do The Same Thing
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#56 Good Bye Hope It Was Worth It
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#57 National Geographic Photographer Captures Beached Influencer As People Just Walk Around Like Nothing Is Wrong. So Sad!
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#58 This Dude Is Really Going All Out For His Linkedin Profile Picture
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#59 Now Grab The Least Stable Part Of Her Body
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#60 Poor Girl. Looks Like She Was Involved In Some Short Of Shark Attack?
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#61 The CEO Of Going Down The Stairs
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#62 That’s A Good Friend
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#63 There Is Really Only One Reason To Be In A Relationship And That Is Content
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#64 She Must Be One Of Those Construction Influencers You Hear So Much About
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#65 Went To The Ocean To Throw Her Dead Mother’s Ashes Into It And They Blew Back In Her Face. If This Ain’t A Metaphor For 2020 Then I Don’t Know What Is
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#66 Did Kid Rock And Jack Sparrow Have A Baby?
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#67 Dan Bilzerian Wyd Bro It’s Like 3 Degrees Out
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#68 I Have Questions
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#69 Gotta Teach The Next Generation
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#70 At The End Of The Video, Goldsmith Was In Tears. “I’m Just Really Overwhelmed Right Now, I Don’t Know What’s Going On,” She Said
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#71 Just Another Tuesday In Australia
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#72 How Inconsiderate Do You Have To Be To Pull Over On The Brooklyn Bridge And Take A Picture, Causing A Traffic Jam?
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#73 Ma’am This Is A Wendy’s
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#74 Get You A Friend Like This
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#75 My Butt Hurts
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#76 You Shall Not Pass
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#77 Day At The Beach
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#78 No Better Way To Start The Day Than Pee Steam In Your Face
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#79 Dad, I Need A Favor
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#80 This Looks Like It Belongs On Failsalad
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#81 Frostbit Buttcheeks (Is A Good Name For A Band)
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#82 No Ragrets
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#83 Can’t Bring Her Anywhere
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#84 Someone’s About To Have A New Dating Profile Pic
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#85 Don’t You Need To Be Somewhere Else Right Now Sir
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#86 Feral Goblin Mode Behavior
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#87 Brunch Got Outta Hand
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#88 This Man Subsists Solely On A Diet Of Quinoa And Kombucha
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#89 This Is Art And It’s Wholesome And It’s Everything I Want This Page To Be
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#90 Sucking Toes For Like In Vietnam
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#91 She’s Filming A Whole Music Video On The Subway, Because The NYC Commute Isn’t Miserable Enough
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#92 Watch Until The End, And Then Ask Yourself, Why? There Is No Answer, But We Must Continue To Ask Ourselves The Tough Questions
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#93 Merry Christmas, I Am The Gift
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#94 You’ve Heard Of “Don’t Bring Sand To The Beach” Now Get Ready For “Don’t Bring Fan To The Beach”
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#95 Permanent No Fly List Immediately
#96 This Page... Has Peaked
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#97 Okay This Is Actually Very Impressive
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#98 Welcome To Hollywood Kid
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#99 They Deserve Each Other
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