A video of a woman mistaken for taking sexy selfies while sitting on a beach has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was posted five days ago by @d.walton3 and has since received more than 7.4 million views. A message overlaid on the video reads: "Us thinking our mom is taking 'sexy' cute pictures..." The footage shows a woman in a swimsuit sitting along the shore holding what appears to be a phone in front of herself.
A caption shared with the post reads: "Well we were wrong." The clip later reveals that the pictures were of birds on the beach being taken by the woman.
The daughter's mistake isn't surprising because "selfitis" is a "genuine mental condition," noted a study published in March 2020 in the IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences.
The selfitis term was first coined, the study said, in a hoax news story in 2014. This stated that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) had "established a new mental disorder called 'selfitis' and stated that obsessive photo taking, and posting is a way to gain attention, compensate for low self-esteem, and compensate for lack of intimacy."
The selfitis phenomenon has been explored in several studies since, including one published in 2018 in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
The study identified six underlying factors of selfitis. These include "environmental enhancement [a sense of feeling good, self-expression, creating better memories], social competition, attention-seeking, mood modification, self-confidence, and social conformity."
@d.walton3 Well we were wrong 😂 #fyp #mom #viral #fypシ #funby
♬ original sound - Ty-Crain
The footage in the latest viral clip shows people gathered around a couple of beach chairs. The camera later zooms in on the woman sitting along the shore, assumed to be taking sexy pictures. She is seen sitting up straight, with one leg seemingly stretched out beside herself.
The video later shows some images of birds sitting on the beach as a message overlaid on it reads "the pictures" before the clip ends.
'Can't Help That She Looked Good'
Several TikTok users were amused by the honest mistake in the viral clip, with Payton Skye Jackson writing: "She can't help that she looked good doing it."
Rebecca Pate posted: "Honestly she's goals. To be so naturally sultry that people think it's for a picture."
User joshy commented: "When you serve effortless beauty [looks] at all times."
User @im_emmalani added: "[your] mom is effortlessly slay."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel and health.
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