Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in Washington and the author of the book "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness." Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) On Sunday, college student Andrea Norton, just 20 years old, was repositioning herself for a photo, police said, when she fell to her death on a hiking trip in the Ozarks. The same weekend, college student Sydney Monfries fell to her death after climbing the Fordham University bell tower and sending out a video via Snapchat.

Jill Filipovic

The coverage of these two tragedies has been less than solemn. Norton, some early news reports said, died taking a selfie (it actually seems she fell after doing what millions of Americans do every day: positioning herself for a photo in a beautiful place).

Meanwhile, Monfries died, according to one lurid headline, "while trying to get Instagram photos" (authorities have offered no indication that taking pictures led her to fall). Meanwhile, a major US network headlined a piece "Selfie leads to two women's deaths;" elsewhere on the internet, commenters on the many news stories about these women's deaths were remarkably callous.

The implication, framed subtly in the headlines and blatantly in the comments, is clear: These two young women were so self-involved and vain that they didn't notice they were inches from danger until it was too late.

Certainly, there is something to be said for being present in the moment and actually enjoying where you are, rather than filtering the experience through the lens of how it will look to others on Instagram. It would probably be good for all of us to spend more time outdoors, with our friends and on adventures without a phone in hand to capture every moment.