19 Year Old kills himself on webcam

[Jedi DC]

imo technology resulting in artificial realities is rather useless. any artifice that disconnects and distorts us further from reality and ourselves is fundamentally useless.

obviously particular subject was depressed enough to commit suicide, but i'd find it hard to believe he would do/say in person the things he did online (and get away with it).

some people in the body builder thread emphasized the severity of the situation, but clearly at least half the people were in disbelief at the reality of it. what of the internet's credibility.

psychological studies show that if a person believes they are the only ones watching someone's potential death, they are far more likely to help than if they are in stance which they perceive the others to be watching as well. the responsibility then becomes 'the group's' or everyone's equally. now imagine this nuance's effect on the internet.

a person's social relations/stability should ideally fall into the real world as much as possible. the internet as a man-created template is inherently immature. the system does not respond as the real world does to trouble, able much more so to clutter and prolong people's developmental conflicts. i do not know the subject's reality and cannot comment on him specifically.

[Money]

sorry paradise, i dont have any sympathy for people who want to or do kill themselves, if you threaten me with killing yourself i will hold you to it.

most people do it for attention and then some really want to die, those who succeed are usually the ones who dont want to live anymore, the nerds who cut themselves the wrong way and tell everyone months later they just got out of the psychiatric hospital for attempting suicide....how do you fail? you dont. attention whores, especially this kid doing it on webcam what a bitch. if anyone is to blame its his parents, duno why they are mad at ppl not trying to stop it. where were they? i can guarantee i will be all up in my kids business when they get older, i know the shit i pulled and ill be damned if ima let that shit happen to my kids, poor parenting.

i would have been one of those telling him hes a pussy and to do it btw, then i would have went to bed and slept like a baby





ps. IE is for novices

[Eric is God]

Do you believe there is some morality inherent in viewing something like this?

I'd say yes, but the internet has done a fine job cutting down on the world's morality through anonymity and desensitization. It's become too easy to think of something like this as entertainment without realizing a troubled young man's life could have been decided by the remarks of complete strangers.

Are you culpable (by law, by your own conscience,) if you see a car coming and an old man in the way but do nothing except stare?

By your own conscience yes. I believe all of society is to blame for these kinds of incidents and you can't take society to court. This wasn't exactly the same as seeing a car coming at an old man because the internet detaches you from reality. I would hope people would warn someone of impending danger though I'm sure many would be unable to react due to shock.

I certainly wouldn't blame the people that watched him die, or even prosecute them, but should there be any sort of ramifications for failing to get help?

I would hope each person who watched this remembers it for the rest of their lives. Somehow I think most will forgot all about this within a matter of weeks.

What would cause someone to kill themselves in such an extravagant way? What is the role of the media, and entertainment industry in building a country where it's acceptable to openly mock people for their quirks and shortcomings (think reality TV)?

Attention. What I can't believe is that this doesn't happen everyday and I assure you it will eventually. People who have not dealt with depression or suicidal thoughts will never understand those who do. Everyone is supposed to fit in a nice, easily defined box because human beings don't like complicated, don't like messy.

The blame rests everywhere. We are becoming more apathetic everyday and I blame our entire culture. It's very easy for people to go through their lives feeling like they don't matter, that nothing matters. We see talentless nobodies become stars on TV and the internet and we start believing we are all entitled to our 15 minutes of fame. 1,000 years ago, 100 years ago and even 50 years ago things were simpler. You had less choice in how your life turned out and having a purpose in life forced on you from an early age is always less stressful than making the decision yourself.

Do things like reality TV, youtube, myspace and other social networking devices encourage, or create systems for people to bully others in acceptance with our culture?

There is no such thing as acceptance in our society, at least not on a mass scale. Everything you listed only gives the illusion of acceptance. People can base their entire self worth on their "online image" and because these social networks rarely offer any real attachment, it's very easy for people to get chewed up and spit out.

Does this call for more regulation on what people can share through social networking? Does the internet facilitate bullying? Should everyone endure a little bit of bullying par for the course when growing up?

They would have just as much luck regulating people's thoughts. We created a society of apathetic, desensitized, megalomaniacs; the internet just adds fuel to the fire. If everyone didn't have to deal with some hardship in their life, they wouldn't be able to appreciate the good parts. The problem is children are being forced to deal with the emotional hardships of life at a much earlier age. Physical abuse is much easier to deal with compared to emotional abuse.

Are kids more vicious now because of this technology?

Yes, but it's only as a result of our disconnect from each other. If I posted on here saying I was planning to overdose in a couple hours how many people would think I was serious? Of those how many would go as far as calling the police? I'm sure someone will come up with the bright idea of turning this into a sociological experiment if it hasn't been done already.

[Squeezer]

sorry paradise, i dont have any sympathy for people who want to or do kill themselves, if you threaten me with killing yourself i will hold you to it.

most people do it for attention and then some really want to die, those who succeed are usually the ones who dont want to live anymore, the nerds who cut themselves the wrong way and tell everyone months later they just got out of the psychiatric hospital for attempting suicide....how do you fail? you dont. attention whores, especially this kid doing it on webcam what a bitch. if anyone is to blame its his parents, duno why they are mad at ppl not trying to stop it. where were they? i can guarantee i will be all up in my kids business when they get older, i know the shit i pulled and ill be damned if ima let that shit happen to my kids, poor parenting.

i would have been one of those telling him hes a pussy and to do it btw, then i would have went to bed and slept like a baby





ps. IE is for novices

He was at work and he's calling for stricter regulation of the Internet

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...rBdvgD94KC5HG0

This could get made into voter sympathy case. If the father chooses to sue the website the Supreme Court, which is full of dinosaurs that don't use computers will be making a decision that could impact the best educational resource EVER created.

And I wanna keep my porn and stupid cat pictures.

[Eric is God]

sorry paradise, i dont have any sympathy for people who want to or do kill themselves, if you threaten me with killing yourself i will hold you to it.

most people do it for attention and then some really want to die, those who succeed are usually the ones who dont want to live anymore, the nerds who cut themselves the wrong way and tell everyone months later they just got out of the psychiatric hospital for attempting suicide....how do you fail? you dont. attention whores, especially this kid doing it on webcam what a bitch. if anyone is to blame its his parents, duno why they are mad at ppl not trying to stop it. where were they? i can guarantee i will be all up in my kids business when they get older, i know the shit i pulled and ill be damned if ima let that shit happen to my kids, poor parenting.

i would have been one of those telling him hes a pussy and to do it btw, then i would have went to bed and slept like a baby





ps. IE is for novices

I'm glad to hear you plan to keep a close eye on your kids, but these... I can't even call them tragedies, are usually the result of something you obviously don't understand because it's much easier to judge or ignore. The world is filled with hundreds of millions of people who feel the way you do and maybe one day enough of them will sit down for a few minutes and wonder whether that's a good thing.

Of course you could just be saying these thigns to maintain your online persona. Either way, my online persona gets a small degree of satisfaction in being proven correct even though being right and being happy are often mutually exclusive.

[Squeezer]

I'd say yes, but the internet has done a fine job cutting down on the world's morality through anonymity and desensitization. It's become too easy to think of something like this as entertainment without realizing a troubled young man's life could have been decided by the remarks of complete strangers.

We, as users of the internet, need to come to the realization that the computer is not the be all end all of value in our life. It's weird how much the world has transformed electronically even in the time I've grown up. We're still coming to grips with living artificially. It's a strange time to try and find a role in the world.

By your own conscience yes. I believe all of society is to blame for these kinds of incidents and you can't take society to court. This wasn't exactly the same as seeing a car coming at an old man because the internet detaches you from reality. I would hope people would warn someone of impending danger though I'm sure many would be unable to react due to shock.

I disagree with this. Not with society bearing the blame, but about feeling guilty or responsible for his death. It's enough work managing our own lives and the lives of those we care about most times. I don't feel responsible for his death. If I had watched it live I might have felt differently but what could I have done? I didn't encourage him to commit suicide but I'm also not preventing him. It was his decision and he chose poorly. I don't know him. I feel bad for him, but as you said, forces larger than both of us are at work here.

I would hope each person who watched this remembers it for the rest of their lives. Somehow I think most will forgot all about this within a matter of weeks.

No one will remember this after the next Internet fad hits.

Attention. What I can't believe is that this doesn't happen everyday and I assure you it will eventually. People who have not dealt with depression or suicidal thoughts will never understand those who do. Everyone is supposed to fit in a nice, easily defined box because human beings don't like complicated, don't like messy.

It already does in Japanese culture. The government is ashamed to even speak about the problem in public. I think everybody has suicidal thoughts at some point. With the knowledge of death comes the concept of control over your life and the ability to choose. We never talk about it but each of us have thought of the possibility. Most probably never honestly considered it, but it's an impossible concept not to think about. Should we be more open as a society about confronting our mortality or is that a matter best left for an individual to come to terms with by themselves?

The blame rests everywhere. We are becoming more apathetic everyday and I blame our entire culture. It's very easy for people to go through their lives feeling like they don't matter, that nothing matters. We see talentless nobodies become stars on TV and the internet and we start believing we are all entitled to our 15 minutes of fame. 1,000 years ago, 100 years ago and even 50 years ago things were simpler. You had less choice in how your life turned out and having a purpose in life forced on you from an early age is always less stressful than making the decision yourself.

sigh. I agree with all of this. Being stupid gets you rich and famous, being educated makes you stable but in the minority. I hate how presumptuous I'm sounding in this thread, but it seems like this story exemplifies the epitome of our voyeuristic culture. We're hitting a new climax with the invention of the internet.

There is no such thing as acceptance in our society, at least not on a mass scale. Everything you listed only gives the illusion of acceptance. People can base their entire self worth on their "online image" and because these social networks rarely offer any real attachment, it's very easy for people to get chewed up and spit out.

There may not be acceptance but there is an image and we're expected to fit it in certain ways. At some point each person needs to understand that no one fits and get along anyway. I don't understand what was wrong in this kid's life. He had tons of friends according to his myspace and a family that loved and supported him. Not to be harsh, it just seems like he was a softy.

They would have just as much luck regulating people's thoughts. We created a society of apathetic, desensitized, megalomaniacs; the internet just adds fuel to the fire. If everyone didn't have to deal with some hardship in their life, they wouldn't be able to appreciate the good parts. The problem is children are being forced to deal with the emotional hardships of life at a much earlier age. Physical abuse is much easier to deal with compared to emotional abuse.

Don't forget overworked, broad-headed, scornful, creative, and self-serving.

Yes, but it's only as a result of our disconnect from each other. If I posted on here saying I was planning to overdose in a couple hours how many people would think I was serious? Of those how many would go as far as calling the police? I'm sure someone will come up with the bright idea of turning this into a sociological experiment if it hasn't been done already.

But we are disconnected from each other. In the end we're all alone on this planet. We sometimes need each other to function but we cannot ever know each other intimately. It's hard enough to keep my own life in order sometimes. In this situation it's hard to think of any way I could have changed his decision. He did not physically harm to anyone but himself, so I kind of fail to see the tragedy. So what if some people on a website egged him on? Part of being alone means accepting yourself as a person and not letting other people get to you.

[Eric is God]

I disagree with this. Not with society bearing the blame, but about feeling guilty or responsible for his death. It's enough work managing our own lives and the lives of those we care about most times. I don't feel responsible for his death. If I had watched it live I might have felt differently but what could I have done? I didn't encourage him to commit suicide but I'm also not preventing him. It was his decision and he chose poorly. I don't know him. I feel bad for him, but as you said, forces larger than both of us are at work here.

The really sad comment is that people actually got involved on either side. Something tells me if no one replied to him at all he would still be alive. Completely screwed up, but alive. The internet provides an easy way to multitask our gluttonous desires within seconds. Watch TV, eat dinner and stream some porn all at the same time just because you can. Do your homework while being an armchair psychiatrist to someone claiming to be a 20 year old girl with body image issues living 3,000 miles away.

There may not be acceptance but there is an image and we're expected to fit it in certain ways. At some point each person needs to understand that no one fits and get along anyway. I don't understand what was wrong in this kid's life. He had tons of friends according to his myspace and a family that loved and supported him. Not to be harsh, it just seems like he was a softy.

As I said, people aren't simple. If he had bi-polar that certainly explains a lot, but it could have been any number of issues falling under the nature or nurture category. A person can appear to have a great life but really be miserable and don't forget happiness is different for everyone. Hell most people don't even know what really makes them happy, me included.

I can't wait to see how the next couple of generations turn out. 6 year olds texting each other on their iPhone Juniors while they stream live video of genocide in some country in Africa.

But we are disconnected from each other. In the end we're all alone on this planet. We sometimes need each other to function but we cannot ever know each other intimately. It's hard enough to keep my own life in order sometimes. In this situation it's hard to think of any way I could have changed his decision. He did not physically harm to anyone but himself, so I kind of fail to see the tragedy. So what if some people on a website egged him on? Part of being alone means accepting yourself as a person and not letting other people get to you.

Society itself is the tragedy, not the death of one troubled teen. As I said, I'm surprised that this would surprise anyone. Why build real connections when you can just delude yourself into thinking your self worth has something to do with how many myspace friends you have or how uber your World of Warcraft character is.

[HateTheFake]

eric is god, great posts

[Squeezer]

eric is god, great posts

add something or gtfo.

c wut i did thur?

[Kolar]

...

[Mr. 420]

DAMNIT!

This guy stole my idea...

[Izor]

Is there something immoral with watching it? I dunno, is there something immoral with watching evil kenival try and jump 30 cars with his motorcycle? We all know that we watch those types of shows to see people fuck up and get hurt. If I had 3 hours and I wanted to watch some fool overdose on drugs and not really care about it its my prerogative. This country is pissing me off with the need to blame someone else when some idiot fucks up. He's not a kid..it was his own choice.

[Capital Knockers]

Alright I only read half the responses, but I read the original post. Squeezer, I do think the people watching can be condemned, and even criminally charged. This wasn't like watching Saddam get hanged, of Evil jump 30 cars. Either way, both those events had people arguing against death, or in Evil's case, warning of it. Popping a bottle of pills is entirely different. While the kid is ultimately to blame, paradise, your stupidity amazes me as always. Do you purposely look for the dumbest thing you can possibly say before you post and then do so?

The parents are to blame to a degree, just as all the other circumstances that led to this kids demise are to blame to their respective degrees as well. The way the father lashes out at the internet (he's not entirely wrong) just goes to show how fucking idiotic of a parent he is. Parents have the responsibility to know the dangers in kids lives, and prepare them for those dangers. He obviously didn't do a great job of that. Paradise, I've seen friends and family go this way, I don't have 'good parents' I'm still fucking here. I think everyone toys with the idea of death sometime in their lives, some people consider it more seriously and often than others. I'd go as far to say that I can be a very morbid person, but that doesn't excuse the people on that forum.

I know, and agree, that the internet is a terrible place to look for attention when you're in that sort of situation. Anyone stop to think that maybe that's what this kid needed? Negative Attention. Maybe he didn't quite have the balls, and needed the people to push him over the edge. Someone might of made that point already, but yeah. Point is, what the fuck were people doing trying to stop him. He took a bottle of pills you numbskulls, talking to him won't do shit, call someone now, not 8 hours later. Worst case scenario, he's faking and attention is brought to how morbid/maybe sad or whatever he is. The kid is ultimately the one with the most guilt, but the people who had a chance to intervene properly and didn't? And the ones that ENCOURAGED it? Ip tracking please, do something about those sick fucks. Sorry Squeezer, really disagree that you can't blame those people. You really can.

[Money]

yea, its apparent you didnt read the other posts, nerd

[Pandagirl!]

I don't think that much blame could be put on the parents. If the kid had bipolar and depression, the parents couldn't really do much to stop it. Maybe suicide ran in his family, who knows. If the kid was away at college, how were his parents supposed to know what he was up to? I kind of doubt that he let his depression shine through when he spent time with them, so they probably had no idea of the severity of his depression until it was too late.Who says that they weren't good parents to him when he was younger? Besides that, he was 19 and his parents technically had no legal control over him. They can't force him to see a psychiatrist to go get help.