This is both disturbing and fascinating: a look at what suicide, grief and mourning look like when they’re played out in the arena of blogs and online communities. The nature of blogs means that very personal pain can be made extremely public if you choose; and it means that thousands of people you’ve never met can respond to your passing in ways both touching and offensive. The article suggests that something critical about the human mourning process is lost when it’s reduced to a blog drama; it’s hard to disagree but also hard to understand exactly what’s gone wrong.
This essay is from a few months ago, but it seems quite timely right now with the recent news of the death of a blogger in Iraq; he had written a moving blog post specifically to be published in the event of his death. What is the web doing to the very human process of death and grief, and is it a bad or a good thing?
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January 12, 2008 at 11:35
I had no idea that this internet suicide was going on. I had heard of the goodbye letter which didn’t strike me as too unusual. I don’t know why, but leaving a final note is comforting to service members. You get to make sure that all your loved ones know that you accept your fate without reserve. That your love for them, and their’s for you were never forgotten. As a veteran I’m familiar with this. G’Kar sent his in a way that was best for him.
The internet suicide is increadibly disturbing though. Wether it’s a practical joke that puts people through alot of misery or a real countdown, reaching out for help through the internet is despairing. When you reach for help in a way that nobody can reach back it’s a hopeless goodbye. I feel very bad that someone feels they wouldn’t have any other options to seek help. I guess that for younger people with technology being a large part of their lives for so long they would feel more comfortable sharing over the internet. If only everyone could see the value of their the way God does.
Paul
January 13, 2008 at 23:51
I’ve mentioned before that I used to work in the funeral business and suicides are always the hardest funerals to conduct. Why? The victim is not the person in the casket, it’s the family and friends left behind wondering what they could have done to prevent it. This is a sad, sick thing going on over the internet. As Paul commented…I wish people could see their value in life as God does.