Here in this article it is about a Facebook user pretty much leaving a facebook version of a suicide note but not one of her 1,048 friends cared about this and just let her die without ever trying to call for some help. If one of your Facebook friends post a status saying “took all pills be dead soon”, Shouldn’t it just be common sense to try and get help to that person ASAP? In this situation the answer clearly was no as the women who posted this status instead received taunts such as being called a liar and also received a I don’t care attitude from her friends such as saying it’s ” her choice”.
After reading this article it made me think about the number of true friends people really have on Facebook. It’s hard to imagine any one having over a thousand real friends on Facebook which could be a reason why she received some of these negative responses after posting her suicide note as these comments maybe came from people she does know in the real world.
Why do you think her Facebook Friends did not handle the situation appropriately?
Read the full article here .
When I see someone that has over five hundred “friends” on Facebook, I don’t think that he/she even know all of them. How can you even interact with that many people and know and understand them? I had people added me on Facebook because I was in their class and I didn’t even interact with them besides friendly greetings. They don’t know or understand me well either. The “friends” on Facebook are not the close friends that you want to have deep conversations with or post suicidal messages to. Most of them wouldn’t care about your life or your problems. Also the news feed filters out certain Facebook status, so her friends that would care about her suicide warning would not even have seen it.
True friends are not on Facebook. She should have talk to someone that is close to her instead of leaving a status online. Her Facebook “friends” can’t really be blamed for not responding to her suicidal status. The status isn’t directed at anyone, so no one take responsibility to care or even help. Also if the user had suicidal posts before, it would be hard for anyone to tell if she was really going to do it. However, they should have handle it differently. It is wrong for her “friends” to post negative comments and argue between themselves instead of paying attention to her on her status. That probably taunted her and egged her on to commit the tragic act.
The phrase you use “don’t care attitude,” entails a complex psychological state or way of thinking as our internet interactions are increasing. For example, I read about someone say, “I post tons of pictures of my kids, and I tell the world how great they are, and if I add the time that I spend on line it does not come near the time that I should spend with them,” she added that she worries more about the pictures she posts, as if they are great, and continuously checks her profile for comments from her “friends,”, when all that time I could be staring and playing with them. My point with this is that for one, what we posts on social sites, are not really for us, it is for others to see, and hopefully gain admiration on our life, where it is human nature to strive to be better that others, and there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is that we create a life on line that is not real, it’s all artificial, because we do it as if were actors on a play, and our friends are just our audience, thus; what we do is not for ourselves is for our audience. As a result the “don’t care attitude is a byproduct of this interaction.”
The article say that there was 150 postings, which is really amazing, considering that many were within walking distance, which supports what I heard about the lady spending time creating an image of her kids, when she could be instead interacting with them. Thus, we craft a different world that is somehow disconnecting with our reality and creating an online virtual reality where the interactions do not amount to tangible outcomes.
When somebody talks about suicide, it the same as saying please help me, and that is common knowledge, even in the event that it may sound that it’s just an act, it’s still a cry for help no matter how you put it. The common analogy of watching someone drown and discussing it with others expecting someone else take action is nothing new. However; it seems to me that the same scenario on line is repeated exponentially as it becomes much easier to look the other way.
After reading this article/blog post I have mixed emotions about the situation.First off,I feel her mother was more angry at the Facebook community than herself or her passed daughter for her actions.We all have to remember when we signed up for Facebook, we didn’t agree to have multiple responsibilities for other people lives not to be cold hearted.As we know, it is a social network site.Yes, I do agree one out of the thousand of friends could have taken action.However,other actions were taken.I often times feel when I am away from family or even in the street with total strangers my phone has to be fully charged in case something randomly happens and I need to be reached.When dealing with face to face situations, I often times help the individual and observe the audience(the people surrounding a victim).For example, as I left for class one morning I noticed in the Atlantic Avenue train station a young lady, around my age, laying on the platform.I noticed one male seeking help.However, every individual kept walking.We as a society often times forget we are humans and our lives may be in the hands of strangers one day whether we like it or not.As I looked into the two delayed trains, all passengers stared at the female in anger(I assumed these commuters were late for work).Both trains were held at the stop until further assistance arrived.It was a shame to see the reactions of all these individuals with no intentions of helping her.Ive witnessed many situation where people pay no attention to those who need help.I am apart of the very few who assist individuals in need of help.I bring this up because if we feel so awkward to help people face to face, how can we do it via internet.The links below reminds me of this situation. As humans in society do we have ethics and does human nature exist?How do we react to situations that surround us everyday and how do you react online?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNu-WZdHzaA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8czPXxwbg5U&feature=related
It is a good idea for Facebook to reach out to individuals who need guidance in life.However, close friends and family should have some type of responsibility in doing so.From personal experience, I have a gist of my Facebook friends personalities.We all have friends who have never ending burdens, misery type statuses and there are others who are always using Facebook to say the total opposite of how they feel(usually close friends who you know their daily situations and vent the inverse on Facebook.)We get so used to the obvious.Since the Facebook community is the target, I believe Facebook should lessen their updates and changes.For example, as a friend of mine post a status I am given an option, of hiding that specific status, all status, or I can mark it as spam.Since we feel some type of way about deleting people, we are able to hide them& their life(status updates).
I guess a helping word, or words of wisdom could help decrease the chances of an individual committing suicide.However, counseling sessions, close family/friends who care play key role in prevention.
As the article mentions:
Back’s friend Samantha Pia Owen said: “Everyone just carried on arguing with each other on Facebook … Some of those people lived within walking distance of Simone. If one person just left their computer and went to her house, her life could have been saved. These so-called friends are a waste of air. If someone has got problems you don’t go around adding to them, you don’t start attacking people who are already vulnerable … Facebook should put up a flag or button so that a post can be flagged up as a suicide threat, and Facebook should be able to contact the police.”
I actually feel she was a waste of air, if she lacked to see signs of her “friend’s” depressive/suicidal thoughts.This situation could have been dealt with differently.How are we as a society living?Physical interactions lessen as technology advances.As technology advances we isolate ourselves from the mass who may one day save our lives.On the other hand, we believe we have an audience when no one is watching.In some cases, we do and in others we don’t.We As we live in public, are we really getting the Positive/Right attention we need, or do we focus on the negative aspect of everything?Most importantly,is this idea of Facebook affecting society becoming a social problem?
After reading this article, I felt like its terribly sad how people treat each other. I think its unbelievable that people who lived near her did not even bother to check up on her or give her a phone call. I am sure that those who lived close to her and were also her friend on Facebook knew her pretty well. This sad event can only make one take a step back and look at all the amount of friends they have on Facebook and find out who really cares. Personally i have a lot of friends on Facebook but for the most part about 95% of them are acquaintances or people who i went to high school with. Truthfully speaking, i am sure that most of these people would not run to my rescue either. As Joanne stated, true friends are not on Facebook. I think that Facebook entails an audience for most people to see how great or how sad your life is. You give them the opportunity to either attack or praise you. I think its unfortunate in this woman’s case that her Facebook “friends” attacked her and egged her on as opposed to realizing she was experiencing a deep depression and rock bottom in her life. Now we can all blame Facebook for her suicide but if we take a look back in time before social media websites were booming, people were writing letters or telling others of their self-threatening actions and people reacted the same way. Therefore, does this become more of a society issue? Facebook has just made it quicker for people to say things without being right in front of you like they used to be back in the days. I don’t know which one is worse but we can only look at how society views suicide and the reactions people have had over the years to those threatening their lives before and after the social media boom.