Teen Commits Suicide On Justin.tv

[CaptainObvious]

So Very Sad :cry:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10104716-93.html

A 19-year-old man has committed suicide while broadcasting himself on Justin.tv, according to a report at NewTeeVee.

The teenager took an overdose of pills while on camera and was apparently encouraged to do so by commentators on Justin.tv and a bodybuilding site, according to the report.

Justin.tv enables users to broadcast video live to the Internet. NewTeeVee said it confirmed the man's death with the Broward County medical examiner's office, which is near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. This will undoubtedly raise questions about the power of Web video and whether its voyeuristic nature can go too far.

The young man apparently posted threats of killing himself to Web message boards in the past, according to numerous online reports. Because of this many of those who watched the man's suicide were skeptical that it was a legitimate suicide attempt and began mocking him.

Some viewers did take him seriously and contacted the Broward County Sheriff's Department. It appears that deputies broke into the man's room and discovered his body.

http://newteevee.com/2008/11/20/19-year-old-commits-suicide-on-justintv/

[ixion]

1. This is sad, but people shouldn't blame the medium...

this person was set on taking their own life, and web or no web, that would have been the outcome.

It's not the games they may have played, or the music they listened to, or the web sites they visited. There are far more important factors -- the cause, not the symptom -- that are always ignored.

[JustJon]

2. "...raises questions about the power of web video..."?

How come when a kid kills himself in school, nobody questions the merits of exposing children to school?

Wake me up when somebody figures out how to blame this on Howard Stern. Because, no issue is really a matter of moral or ethical responsibility until somebody blames Howard Stern. That's when I know it's time to get indignant.

[TransitJohn]

3. You've got it wrong

it's all the fault of heavy metal and Ozzy. Or was that Judas Priest? :sarcasm:

[snake in the grass]

4. 'Suicide Solution'

by Ozzy.

[Ian David]

5. Compare this to the number of times someone has gone into a chat room...

... or posted on a blog, saying they were going to kill themselves, and then found friends and strangers intervening to STOP them.

I've seen that going way back to my CompuServe days, and I've even been the one on the phone to the cops more than once.