Khaled Diab, Al Jazeera: The jihadist selfie is changing the image of holy war
Rambo-like selfies taken by western jihadists may be part of a deliberate strategy for recruitment.
t was a miracle of selfie-preservation. A 14-year-old British schoolboy on a skiing holiday in Austria improbably survived, with only a few bruises and scratches, a 500-metre drop after slipping while shooting a selfie.
And if his phone survived the fall too, the teenager may just have snapped himself the kind of digital self-portrait that will make him the awe of his Facebook friends, and could even go viral.
But it is not just young people who are doing it. A cursory glance shows that selfies have become one of the greatest fads around, with celebrities and even politicians embracing them. A group selfie at last year's Oscar ceremony became the most re-tweeted image of all time - a picture that apparently spoke a billion dollars. And with the fuss about selfies at this year's ceremony, it won't be too long before we start hearing about a "best selfie" category being introduced at the Academy Award
WNU Editor: VICE did an interesting post on this trend last year .... Jihad Selfies: These British Extremists in Syria Love Social Media (VICE News). Out of curiosity I put the phrase "Jihad selfies" in the Google image search box .... OMG!!!! .... these Jihadists must love themselves because there are literally thousands of images.
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