'Grinning' Obama's selfie at Mandela memorial goes viral

President Barack Obama’s selfie at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service has gone viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of delight was appropriate for the occasion.

Obama posed for a picture with UK PM David Cameron, while Denmark's PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt held up her smartphone to capture all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto's World Cup stadium, Channel24 reports.

The grinning selfie was quickly picked up by major international news outlets, the report added.

The US-based social news website, Buzzfeed, reported it with a headline: "Is This The Most Important Selfie Of 2013?"

Obama taking a selfie during Nelson Mandela's memorial service http://t.co/oUroMM37bc pic.twitter.com/tq0P7XwfYR

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) December 10, 2013

Jeffry Halverson, historian of religions, tweeted: "There should be a moratorium on 'selfies' during memorials and funerals, no?"