Commit Social Suicide
I received an email today from a friend threatening to commit suicide- social suicide! She, like many others, seemed very tempted by the discovery of a new tool: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. This service allows users to eliminate their social alter egos from several of the more popular networks (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter) via “suicide,” leaving behind a skeleton of their original profile… and some parting words. I think that we will continue to see behavior (and services) like this, as people struggle to redefine their privacy online.
Suicide Machine launched on December 19th and, according to the website, has assisted in over 1,700 deaths- resulting in the termination of nearly 117,000 Facebook friends and the removal of 267,000 tweets.
Evidently, users love the service because of its simplicity. No questions asked. Facebook, however, is not so happy. Apparently they’ve demanded that Suicide Machine “cease this activity immediately,” and have blocked them from accessing their site. But the suicides continue nonetheless. (The remaining networks have not yet responded.)
Watch the video here:
