I’ve always wondered if this event has happened before and if not, when it would occur. Looks like both of those questions have been answered. News has come out today via ABC News that a 19 year old Florida teen live streamed his suicide on Justin.TV. The teen had been reportedly discussing his suicide before actually going through with it. Those who were watching the stream noticed the teen didn’t appear to be breathing but only after a number of hours passed did someone contact a moderator for Justin.TV who then called local authorities. The teen was found dead at the scene.
While I’m not surprised, it turns out that some of the people who were watching the stream ended up egging the guy on to kill himself. ABC reports that things such as ‘go ahead and do it, faggot‘, were being said in the chat room. Although on the face of it, it seems as though this teen had made up his mind and he didn’t need to be egged on. However, a part of me wonders if what he read in the chatroom may have had any influence on his final decision to go through with it.
A sad story and yet another realization that the web is used by people who feel as though they can be protected by their computer screens and say anything they want without repercussion.