Student Kills Himself in Front of Webcam

[jason]

National Briefing - South - Florida - Student Kills Himself in Front of Webcam - NYTimes.com

A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live Webcam as some computer users egged him on and others tried to talk him out of it. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify the police, but by the time officers entered the student’s home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late. The student, Abraham Biggs, 19, was enrolled at Broward College and suffered from what his family said was bipolar disorder. He killed himself in his father’s Pembroke Pines house; it was unclear how many people were watching. Mr. Biggs announced his plans to kill himself over a Web site for bodybuilders, the authorities said. Some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.

I’ve been online when someone blogged about having taken pills, and though we didn’t know who her real name was or where she really lived, a very fast series of searches got the right people and years later she’s still strong. Says something about who you socialize with, I think.

Comments

[ashenseraph.livejournal.com]

As I blogged, I'm expecting to see many more webcammed suicides occurring in the next few years. It makes perfect sense for anyone who's accustomed to living online via Facebook, Twitter, IM, we/b/logs, etc.... It's nice to hear your counter-story, though; there are plenty of mutually supportive groups and people online, but we don't hear much about them.

[complicittheory.livejournal.com]

Check out http://tinyurl.com/5na7c2 and the article on suicide machines... in my other journal. Have to be on campus to read the paper though. Interesting stuff.