Risk-takers look for likes with dangerous shots at The Gap

A young woman sits on the edge of The Gap, legs dangling off the cliff as she looks away from the camera for the perfect nonchalant photo. Her photographer, a young man who could be her partner, climbs over the rocks in search of a vantage point that shows just how precarious her rocky perch is. The photos — stills from a video captured at The Gap platform late last month — show “selfie culture” in all its reckless, self-centred absurdity. Visitors to The Gap can be heard in the background of the video, voicing their disdain. “All this for a f..... photo. Just for a photo to put on Facebook,” they say. “Don’t they know how many people die here?” Edith Cowan University senior lecturer Edmund Goh, who has researched non-compliant behaviours at Australian national parks, is all too familiar with these sorts of incidents. Mr Goh was asked to speak to the media last year after a 20-year-old Indian student named Ankit fell to his death at The Gap. He said the area’s dangerous reputation would make it a “sexier” location for some selfie-seekers. “I think the mentality is that the further I non-comply, the more popular I will be to some extent with the social media community,” he said. “There are so many photos being posted on social media these days and people are starting to think about how they can stand out from the crowd, how they can get the likes and the comments from their peer group. “I think that’s fuelling the appetite for non-compliance. “You see some of the very dangerous non-compliance, people climbing up skyscrapers and dangling off buildings — and they get millions of likes.” He said those taking the photos were most likely not doing it to cause harm or put anyone else at risk — it was just about the likes. “For most people who non-comply, I don’t think there’s malicious intent,” he said. Mr Goh said while the non-compliance culture was nothing new, social media had given people a much bigger platform to advertise their “trophy”. “I would say in the past people have done this same sort non-compliance — in the 1960s, even in the 1800s,” he said. “Back then I think it was more about the local community and bragging rights with your friends, but it’s escalated to a global platform.”