
Inside Tumblr’s teen suicide epidemic - Libertatea
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/02/24/inside-tumblrs-teen-suicide-epidemic/
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ZoFreX
Is three teens in two months really an epidemic? If these notes were passed
around on paper, would they be blaming paper?

I think all the effort of this misguided article would be much better spent
tackling transphobia rather than advocating we curtail free speech.

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blueflow
The generic problem on Tumblr still exists. Like those posts about
romanticizing her suicide. Hate & Shame posts are still happen regularly, and
people seeing gender issues in everything is something why people outside
tumblr make fun of it.

Its not only about transphobia, its about how youngsters use tumblr.

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otakucode
If you wish to prevent teen suicide, your task really isn't as difficult as
you might think. You might be totally unwilling to do it, though.

How about making it so teens lives don't suck ass? How about helping them
instead of actively trying to hurt them with good intentions? It's not like
adolescence is some new thing that just popped up, but society has gotten
progressively worse at dealing with it for a long time. We know that in
cultures that empower adolescents and expect them to join the adult world,
there is no such creature as the 'angsty teen'. We create that creature when
we insist on treating them like children simply because we don't know what
else to do with them with our current social structure - a structure derived
from the needs of factory owners around the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution and little-changed since.

Do you want to stop teen suicide if it means respecting them as human beings?
What if you have to let them make the decisions that control their lives
instead of you? Are you willing to admit that you have talked about
adolescents the way racists used to talk about minorities, and the way men
used to talk about women? Are you ready to admit that you've wronged a part of
humanity, even though you had to pass through that class yourself? What you
want and what needs to be done to accomplish it are not always things you can
live with. Demanding that you should be able to have your desires met without
having to pay the price is very immature. If you want teen suicide to go away
but you still get to rob them of their autonomy and denigrate them, you are
doing exactly this.

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bhayden
This issue with letting a teen do whatever he or she wants is that a parent is
legally responsible for them. If my teenager son destroys thousands of dollars
worth of property, guess who pays for it? There needs to be a some level of
control over teenagers, and the level needs to be less than that given to an
adult.

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fragsworth
What is it about Tumblr that makes it so appealing to radical subcultures? And
what is it that makes those subcultures thrive so well in that community?

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ohkine
Being trans is not a 'radical subculture'

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igorgue
I think he's referring to "people who commit suicide virally" not just
Transgenders.

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intortus
Which is also not a radical subculture.

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blueflow
This is not true. On tumblr, you can get bubbled with everything you
say/do/are. And posts glorifying self-harm and suicide are still happening.

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stevenmays
Shouldn't this have a trigger warning on it?

In all seriousness, many communities on Tumblr exist to find stuff on the
internet to get outraged about. "The constantly outraged are locked in a
desperate struggle to find meaning in things that do not impact their lives."

Tumblr communities also seems to idolize victimhood. Nothing demonstrates your
level of victimhood quite like suicide. So, if you take generally marginalized
groups (body size, sexuality, etc), run around searching for things to get
angry about, and celebrate their status as societies scapegoats and victims it
does not surprise me that Tumblr would have high suicide rates.

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DanBC
[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...](https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278119/Annual_Report_FINAL_revised.pdf)

The national suicide prevention strategy has recognised social media as
something to be aware of. This concern is reflected in some local strategies -
it's possibly going to be in Gloucestershire's suicide prevention strategy.

People worked hard to get media outlets to develop guidelines that balance
freedom of speech with reducing harm. The national union of journalists has
pretty good guidelines.

[https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/guidelines-on-reporting-on-
menta...](https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/guidelines-on-reporting-on-mental-
health-suicide/)

Perhaps the social media industry could set up some meta group to draw up
guidelines around social responsibility? Many sites have rules that ban pro-
anorexia information.

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joshstrange
Is there a similar document for US-news (Covering responsible reporting for
situations like this)?

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briandoll
Maybe focus on addressing critical societal issues instead of blaming a blog
platform? This narrative is insane.

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forrestthewoods
When there is a mass shooting and the media covers it extensively and
gratuitously they significantly increase the chance of additional shootings in
the following weeks.

When someone commits suicide and it gets a lot of attention there is an
increase in suicides in the following weeks.

That's worth talking about.

~~~
joshstrange
Ok, so if mainstream news still hasn't figured out how to handle this why do
we expect Tumblr to be on top of it? Mainstream news sets a TERRIBLE example
of how to handle tragedies like this. I agree with briandoll, let's stop
blaming Tumblr for doing nothing wrong (They aren't using this in marketing or
as a way to get more users/eyeballs) and focus on the flaws in society that
lead to these kids taking their lives.

When the news covers shoots (or stories like this) they ARE trying to attract
more viewer, it's a very different thing IMHO to just leaving up posts and
allowing users to share. I see Tumblr taking down posts extremely
disrespectful to the deceased. Let's not pretend a blogging platform is to
blame, instead let's blame the real people at fault: the parents and the
communities that drove these kids to what they saw as their only option.

~~~
DanBC
Some social media sites will restrict information that is directly harmful --
you can't create a subreddit to share methods of suicide for example -- so
they may want to consider whether they've drawn the line in the right place.

If a site bans pro-anorexic content they've already said they're happy to
restrict free speech if there's a strong enough protective need.

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auganov
Tumblr is mostly about nice looking pictures. Architecture, food, fashion etc.
People don't really talk or socialize on there too much. I feel like it's just
by correlation that tumblr users might be more likely to have or express
issues. It seems like "blogging" platforms always had that demographic. Most
people would just use them as digital diaries. So unsuprisingly you'd find
diaries of depressed people. Because, well, some people just are. Tumblr is
just the latest, most mainstream iteration of the phenomenon.

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james-bronze
As some who is in the thick of the "social justice" part of tumblr, or
whatever you want to call it, I thought I'd put my two cents in. I actually
saw this article on Tumblr, I follow the Hacker News bot. This article was
ignorant, jumped to conclusions, and not very well informed in general. It
quoted a bunch of "experts" who didn't seam to understand what tumblr is. They
think that by talking about Leehla and Zander we are glorifying them, and
therefor suicide, as appose to remembering them for who they wanted to be, and
trying to make a safe and excepting environment for trans* kids.

I guess I'm just tired of adults reading one or two things and thinking they
know better simply because of seniority. The reporter, the white, middle aged
Caitlin Dewey, has a reputation for being facile and provocative. She's
probably never been on Tumblr. They expert's she quotes, while educated, are
still probably out of their depth. While some glorifying type blogs do exist
(you can't generalize tumblr; there are more than 221 million blogs) the
majority of blogs about mental illness, feminism, minority rights, etc, are
based on trying to educate people and provide them with resources and a safe,
understanding place. How about adults stop pointing fingers at the big scary
internet and put time and effort into, I don't know, making safe spaces for
teens so they aren't suicidal in the first place? That's what people on tumblr
are trying to do when they "martyrize" Leehla Alcorn. They're putting a face
on their movement. Not a movement to glorify suicide. A movement to outlaw
trans* conversion therapy, and get proper sex ed in schools. A movement to try
and stop teen's lives from being a living hell, a movement to stop teens from
being pushed to suicide. A movement that many adults can't seem to be bothered
with--but oh no! The teenagers are obviously trying to get each other to kill
themselves because it's "cool".

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psychometry
Is there really an epidemic? Are there any stats on this?

