http://kill90dayjane.blogspot.com/

At any rate, I hope that the internet will be a place for all people to say whatever they want. Never before in human history have we had the possibility to study ourself as humans in this way – when ideas are not restricted/censored.

For all we know, suicide might be the right thing for somebody, I don’t think so! But who am I to decide how other should live their lives?

I’m sorry for my wired stance, but I just love the “everything goes” thing that is the internet. Its beautiful…

I think this “move” may not be the original author’s doing, because I followed the link. While all the text is set up correctly, both the video clips , when clicked show an “error” saying that a new driver is needed to play the video. It then downloads a “player” which if you attempt to install, displays streaming pornography on your screen. I suspect that the porno promoters are using a fake copy of the blog to promote their material.

I’m aware that suicide contaigon is a documented phenomena. I’m wondering about the ethics of promoting (publicising, making others aware of, helping others find) information where it is known that that information makes it more likely that other people will kill themself. But then perhaps you knew that the story had a happy ending when you told people about the blog…

I guess I’m wondering… If people hadn’t expressed concern for her… If people hadn’t expressed concern about her alledged plans… Then… Would she have suicided after all?

All I’m saying is that we don’t know. We know that people said they cared and that now she is alive calling her blog an ‘art project’. But then we also know that often people feel embarrassed and ashamed about feeling suicidal when they later make the decision not to. An ‘art project’ maybe… But sometimes fact and fiction can blend in funny ways… I guess I’m just saying that I wouldn’t be too quick to write her off as ‘attention seeking’ or whatever. And… Sometimes people do plan suicide in advance and then do it. There are probably more plans than suicides to be sure but when the only way to judge ‘seriousness’ is on the basis of whether a person succeeds in suiciding or not… IMHO that can be a little dangerous..

The fact that this was not, in fact, a person who was suicidal, but someone who was conducting an art project, kind of begs the question — why not just label it as “Art project” somewhere on the site.

When you walk into a museum and see a modern installation, you know it’s meant as “art,” regardless of whether you agree with it. When you are confronted with it online and the artist makes it purposely vague, you’re going to get exactly the kinds of reactions this person received, ranging from disgust and anger, to heartbreak and caring.

I guess that was a part of her point, to show herself (us? others?) the range of human emotion.

I don’t know whether it was successful or not, but it certainly created controversy.

It sounds as though this person WAS responsive to the concerned readers who contacted her. She explained what she was doing… I’m not sure that we should proclaim her project a failure… One thing she found was that people DID SOMETHING. They cared. She received responses from people who were concerned that she might take her life.

I guess it is hard to say whether she really had the intention to follow through – or whether she never did. Such facts are inaccessible (to us and to her) now. It might be that caring responses helped this person. You might find it hard to believe that a person would plan a death so much in advance and then actually follow through with it… But if she had have followed through with it you would have become one of those who heard her cries for help and… Justified your non-intervention by labelling her ‘not serious’ and ‘attention seeking’ and so on.

I think that the issue of suicide contagion is interesting when it comes to internet message boards and informing people when it is known that someone who was a part of the community there has passed on.