Man Hangs Self on Internet - 3,446 Views, 10 Comments
|
Previous Article « Wifi Camera Introduced by Nikon
Read Next Article » Wherify Wherifone - Cell Phone with GPS Locator Lets You GPS Track Your Kids
A man has hung himself while in video chat online, in an ultimate and bizarre reversal of the online viewing experience. Usually you hear about people watching something they perhaps shouldn’t be, and they don’t want the watched to know that they are being watched. In this case, it was the watchee who pushed the experience on the watcher, if you will. It all started when 27 year old Yang, a coed from Korea who is living in England, where she is attending university, was video chatting with her boyfriend Kim, who was back home in Korea. The two got into an argument online, and it quickly escalated. Suddenly, Kim got up, and hung himself from a gas pipe with a leather belt, while Yang sat helpless, thousands of miles away. Said Yang, “Even when I was in Korea, my boyfriend normally used to say extreme and unsettling thing when we fought, like he was going to kill himself. At first, I though he was just trying to scare me, but I was shocked when I saw his body suddenly drop.” Update: Apparently it was less obvious than I’d thought it would be as to why this article is here. People are emboldened to do all kinds of things, and act all kinds of ways, on the Internet which they would never do in person. I’m not saying that Kim would not have eventually killed himself were he not chatting online with his girlfriend. But certainly he would not have been able to successfully hang himself with her right in the room (or much less likely, at least). And the impact would simply not have been the same were they just on the telephone. The Internet instant messenger was a vital part of this drama. More to the point, however, is that doing it in this manner, in “front of her”, but with her thousands of miles away, was the biggest “**** you” that someone could ever really give to someone else. To do something like this in full view of someone, while they are right there visually, and yet utterly helpless to do anything to stop it… it just doesn’t get much more horrible than that in terms of personal relationships. Is the Internet to blame? No, of course not. But it certainly is a new element in relationships which alters how we interact. There are dozons of articles on this site about how the Internet has altered the social construct of human relationships, although, so far, none quite so extreme as this.
Follow Anne on Twitter
Friend Anne on Facebook
Twitter Explained in Plain English
Previous Article « Wifi Camera Introduced by Nikon
Read Next Article » Wherify Wherifone - Cell Phone with GPS Locator Lets You GPS Track Your Kids
Read more:
» Web Suicide Pacts Lead to Thousands of Deaths
» Voters Admit Their Vote Can Be Influenced by Spam
» Download Internet Explorer - Why and Where
» Write for The Internet Patrol!
For additional similar stories check out our archives on Around the World, Instant Messengers, Just Plain Wrong
NOTE: We never, ever, ever will recommend any product or service on this site that we have not regularly used ourselves and do not wholeheartedly believe in. That said, in some cases after being very pleased with a product or service, we may enter into a relationship with the provider of that product or service such that if someone purchases that product or service based on our recommendation, we may get a small payment. Such payments go towards the upkeep of the Internet Patrol.

ROFLMAO ….. what a Lozer
Comment by ramtrax_2k2 — 9/5/2005 @ 8:13 am
So what does this tragedy have to do with spam? I have to say that this issue of “Aunty Spam” seems heavy on sensationalism and barely disguised infomercials, and thin on substance. Get folks to the site, thinking that there must surely be a relevant point, only to find a lame conclusion and lots of product links. If this is how it’s gonna be, I will be removing myself from the list very soon.
Comment by joicy — 9/5/2005 @ 9:34 am
I’d have to agree with ‘joicy’ on this one. IF what I reviewed about ‘aunty’ being a reputable documentarian, and interested in this site format for the BENEFIT of it’s subscribers, SHAME, AUNTY!
Comment by Garemeister — 9/5/2005 @ 12:41 pm
I believe this is one of those things that sould be left unsaid. The potential: “Never thought of doing that on the internet. Great idea! And to top that I could do……”
Let alone Yang having to now read about it everywhere.
Not very theinternetpatrolmy besides!!
Comment by Frank — 9/5/2005 @ 3:03 pm
Sadly, many suicides are conducted with the intention of punishing someone significant in the person’s life, and set up so that person will discover the body. This is always tragic. Anyone who has so little compassion that his/her only response is “what a loser” … well, perhaps that person has too little respect for life itself. I also understand why Aunty Spam makes note of this. It may be the very worst kind of unwanted internet traffic, and therefore qualifies as spam as far as I’m concerned.
If someone were to try this with me, I think the appropriate reaction would be to say, “I’m so sorry for your pain, but I do care about you enough not to watch.” And I would log off. Just a thought.
Comment by Jeff — 9/8/2005 @ 6:57 am
One less lozer’s(sic) mouth to feed?
Comment by GIZMO — 9/10/2005 @ 3:51 am
If this site simply verifies that the story IS NOT a FAKE, but a true happening, then isn’t that meeting the basic requirement - What is True vs. NOT True??
Comment by Anonymous — 12/30/2005 @ 3:00 am
They have some really sick and heartless people out there in the world and I’m not just talking about the ones who take their own lives.
Comment by Someone with a heart — 1/27/2006 @ 1:37 am
It’s sad to say that there are alot of sick and heartless people and I’m not just talking about the ones who take their own lives.
Comment by Someone with a heart — 1/27/2006 @ 2:07 am
howdy
Comment by cody — 10/24/2006 @ 5:26 am