Facebook suicide notes - the 'netspressives'
According to a new survey which just arrived in my inbox, we're all becoming 'Netspressives' - which basically means socially useless and only able to communicate online.
The (admittedly rather limited) report found that half of us spend more time talking to friends online than on phone or in person and find it hard to express their feelings in the real world.
In a tragic coincidence it was today revealed that Little Britain star Matt Lucas' former partner Kevin McGee, 32, (both pictured right) was found dead in his Edinburgh flat by police, after leaving a message on the social networking site Facebook.
McGee reportedly chose to post: "Kevin McGee thinks that death is much better than life."
A quick google search reveals a host of people who have left suicide notes on Facebook before killing themselves.
I remember reading years ago a short story in a science fiction collection about the unlikely scenario in a little populated world where people were just living alone, communicating via computers, and a prospective meeting of another person causes feelings of terror in the main protagonist.
It was a sad reflective piece, but, the truth seems to be even more tragic and bizarre - where people at the end of their tethers feel only able to express their feelings to electronic friends.
Yahoo, which commissioned the survey (admittedly small - only 1,050 nationwide were asked) have put up Psychologist Jo Hemmings to say: "The stereotype is that Britons are typically unexpressive people, but the rise of online communication has highlighted that this isn't true - we just need the right outlet. This study shows that the online world is acting as our self-expression release valve and 'Net-pression' is an important daily act for millions of Britons".
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Ben Hurst
I think this is profoundly and tragically true but for the world, not just for Brits at all. Fewer and fewer people consider social media a means to open doors to offline and real time relationships instead preferring the fleeting connections that cyberspace encourages. The isolation that ensues is surely going to negatively impact socialness offline and likely increase the loneliness many already feel.
most of my work is in front of the computer and I often hardly speak for the whole day, which results in my lossing my voice most of time
does anyone know what the short story mentioned in the article is called?
Sorry Joseph - I can't remember - it was in a sci-fi collection of short stories I got out of a library, but I read it many years ago.