Obuya 1

Maddy Obuya

Lacee Nisbett

EN 102-326

24 March 2019

Social Media: Is it Really THAT Great?

The idea of death by suicide has been relatively common for as long as humans

have existed. Historically, suicides have been most prevalent in the military community. Many

soldiers experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder would eventually decide to take their own

lives (“The Relationship Between…”). However, suicide has become more common in the

general population and social media may be escalating this trend. The availability of self-help

accounts and lifeline pages/numbers and the constant connectivity to family and friends on social

media has been shown to have numerous beneficial aspects to people struggling with mental

health. However, recent studies have shown that social media’s fostering of pro-suicide online

communities, the spread of a phenomenon called the Werther Effect, and the readily available

posts and hashtags that promote suicidal thoughts and behaviors have had detrimental effects on

users’ mental health and has therefore caused an increase in suicide rates.

The unmonitored use of social media allows people to easily create blogs, pages, and

chatrooms specifically devoted to the spread of pro-suicide behavior, thoughts, and methods in

which followers can use to commit suicide. In an interview on the talk show “The Doctors,”

board-certified Dr. Domenick Sportelli states that the online pro-suicide communities created

have such a significant effect on the users because they provide a makeshift safe-haven when

they are most vulnerable and isolated from humanity (“Teen Suicide Challenge…”). The online

community that encourages the user’s suicidal thoughts essentially becomes the only emotional
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connection they have to other humans. This allows for the posts made to have an immense

amount of control over the user’s actions and eventually convinces them to commit suicide.

Moreover, suicide pacts – when two or more people vow to commit suicide at the same time and,

usually, in the same manner – have become more prominent in these online communities and

have had an adverse effect on suicide rates. Historically, suicide pacts were created between two

people that had a close relationship, but online chatrooms and social media platforms have

transformed the idea into a suicide pact between complete strangers now known as “cybersuicide

pacts.” Although it seems bizarre that someone would commit suicide because of an arrangement

made with a stranger, a study in South Korea, for example, found that “cybersuicide pacts

account for almost 33%” of the nation’s suicides (Luxton). Creating a pact further solidifies the

user’s sense of belonging to the pro-suicide environment and greatly motivates them to actually

undergo the act and thus induces the increase in national and international suicide rates. Users in

pro-suicide online communities also use social media as platforms to distribute information on

different methods to commit suicide. For Instance, “in Japan in 2008, 220 cases of people

attempting suicide via hydrogen sulfide gas resulted in the deaths of 208 people” (Luxton). Some

of the deaths were family and friends that were attempting to save their loved one. This

illustrates and emphasizes the damaging effects pro-suicide communities have on the users and

their close family and friends. As more users are encouraged to commit suicide and are given

access to information about different methods, suicide rates consequently increase.

The suicide of a prominent public figure has always had a major impact on society’s

thoughts and behaviors, but a study on the Werther Effect – also known as the “copycat” effect –

indicates that there is a strong correlation between the types of posts made on social media about

the suicide and the suicide rates of the general population following the event. This study found
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that the “volume of social media posts about a death [was] a good indicator of the impact it

would have on actual suicide rates” (Fahey). In 2018, Parts Unknown host Anthony Bourdain

and well-known high-end designer Kate Spade both took their own lives. Following their deaths,

numerous news stations and social media platforms constantly reported on their suicides. In an

NBC Nightly News video, suicide attempt survivor, Kelly Davis, states that the social media

posts “triggered suffering she’s been trying to forget” (“Recent High Profiled Suicides…”). This

shows that the highly received attention from celebrity suicides could also trigger survivors to

consider possibly attempting to commit suicide again. Columbia University Psychiatry Professor

Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber states that media reports on celebrity suicides only become harmful

to society when it is discussed in “a glamorous, sensational way”. The glorification of suicide

victims further motivates those contemplating suicide to do so as an attempt to seek the same

affection from the public. As shown in the video, there was a disturbing 10% increase in United

States national suicide rates in just four months following the suicide of actor Robin Williams

(“Recent High Profiled Suicides…”). Furthermore, a video from Bite Size Psych states that

media reports of suicide that “sensationalize the event, provide constant coverage, and describe it

as a form of escape from a person’s troubles” have a greater effect on the increase of suicide

rates and exhibit suicide as a “more appropriate action” (“10 Strangest Things…”). This causes

people contemplating suicide to view it as a method that has become more culturally acceptable

and are therefore more likely to commit suicide and cause an increase in suicide rates.

On the more popular site, Instagram, suicide posts can be compressed into a single feed

by simply searching the term “#suicide.” This search is presented with 8.2 million posts, while

the search “#suicideprevention” only has 822,000 posts (see fig. 1). This illustrates the difference

in popularity and availability of pro-suicide posts versus suicide prevention posts. Moreover,
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once a user clicks on the “#suicide” search, a message appears and states “Can we help? Posts

with words or tags you’re searching for often encourage behavior that can cause harm and even

lead to death” (see fig. 2). Although the message has good intentions, it, nevertheless, gives the

user the option to “see posts anyway.” The ability for the user to easily have access to millions of

pro-suicide posts and posts that glorify celebs and other users that have committed suicide

further encourages their suicidal thoughts and behaviors and could eventually result in their

death. Furthermore, a study on suicidal posts on Instagram found that “some suicide-related

hashtags can overlap with non-suicide terms” and may cause innocent children to be

inadvertently exposed to these posts that encourage suicidal thoughts (Arendt). The plethora of

subliminal messages on suicide available on Instagram “activate mentally associated behavioral

schemata [which] can increase accessibility of suicide-related behavioral schemata” (Arendt).

Both of these factors increase the likelihood of adolescents committing suicide or attempting to

do so at a much younger age and therefore steadily increase suicide rates. The glorification and

romanticization of suicide and other self-injurious activities presented on social media has

further encouraged users to partake in such activities. In recent news, thirty parents came forward

and affirmed that their children used Instagram to “search for more information on self-harming

and suicide” prior to their suicides (“Social Media Sites…”). As shown, these pro-suicide posts

available on Instagram not only promote suicide and increase suicide rates, but they also have a

drastic and heartbreaking effect. The parents of the victims are left childless simply because

strangers encouraged them to commit suicide rather than seek for the help they so desperately

need.
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Figure 1 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 7 March 2019.

Figure 2 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 24 March 2019.

Although studies show that the increase in suicide rates has correlated with increased use

in social media, there has been numerous positive aspects that social media provides for people

struggling with mental health issues. A “Bite Size Psych” video states that social media has

“made people more aware of mental health issues and it has persuaded people thinking of suicide

to seek help.” The video also further provides data that shows that the number of calls to the

suicide hotline doubled after a prominent celebrity died (“10 Strangest Things…”). This may
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sound negative at first, but it exhibits that rather than actually committing suicide, those people

decided to seek help to find a solution to their problems. Social media users struggling with

mental health are further encouraged to call suicide hotline numbers by numerous posts made on

the popular social media site Twitter (see fig. 3). Furthermore, numerous social media platforms

have accounts dedicated to providing mental health and recovery advice to those who are

contemplating suicide or have attempted it. These accounts can be found on virtually every

social media, from Instagram to Twitter and Tumblr and even Pinterest, and have thousands to

hundreds of thousands of followers (see fig. 4, fig. 5, fig. 6, and fig. 7). Moreover, multiple

videos on YouTube of attempted suicide survivors describing their experience are readily

available to those contemplating suicide. In a BuzzFeed video, Kevin, who attempted suicide by

jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, describes the instant regret he felt “the millisecond [his]

hands left the rail” (“I Jumped Off…”). Kevin’s extremely emotional and compelling video

illustrates to those with thoughts of suicide that it truly does get better. This video also

emphasizes the importance of building a support network and that “it’s okay not to be okay, [but]

it’s not okay not to ask for someone to back you up” (“I Jumped Off…”). This further exhibits to

the viewers that not only are the emotions they experience completely valid, but that they will

also always have support and love from their family and friends.
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Figure 3 – Image Graphic, Twitter, 23 March 2019.

Figure 4 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 23 March 2019.

Figure 5 – Image Graphic, Twitter, 23 March 2019.

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Figure 6 – Image Graphic, Tumblr, 23 March 2019.

Figure 7 – Image Graphic, Pinterest, 23 March 2019.

As shown, numerous social media accounts have created platforms to spread mental

health positive information and other support services as an attempt to inspire those with mental

health issues to seek help. Although this is an incredibly valuable aspect of social media,

research and data heavily support the claim that there is a positive correlation between social

media use and suicide rates. Through the availability of online communities that encourage

suicidal thoughts and actions, social media posts made after the suicide of a prominent celebrity

that glorify his/her death, and pro-suicide posts made on these platforms, users, especially those
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already contemplating suicide, are more likely to commit suicide, which causes an increase in

national and international suicide rates.

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References

Arendt, Florian. “Suicide on Instagram—Content Analysis of a German Suicide-Related

Hashtag.” Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, vol. 40, no.

1, 2019, pp. 36–41. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000529

Fahey, Robert A., et al. “Tracking the Werther Effect on Social Media: Emotional Responses to

Prominent Suicide Deaths on Twitter and Subsequent Increases in Suicide.” SOCIAL

SCIENCE & MEDICINE, vol. 219, pp. 19–29. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.10.004. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019

Figure 1 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 7 March 2019.

Figure 2 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 24 March 2019.

Figure 3 – Image Graphic, Twitter, 23 March 2019.

Figure 4 – Image Graphic, Instagram, 23 March 2019.

Figure 5 – Image Graphic, Twitter, 23 March 2019.

Figure 6 – Image Graphic, Tumblr, 23 March 2019.

Figure 7 – Image Graphic, Pinterest, 23 March 2019.

Luxton, I. David D., et al. “Social Media and Suicide: A Public Health Perspective.” American

Journal of Public Health, vol. 102, no. S2, May 2012, pp. S195–S200. EBSCOhost,

libdata.lib.ua.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h

&AN=74555569&site=eds-live&scope=site

“I Jumped Off The Golden Gate Bridge.” YouTube, uploaded by BuzzFeedVideo, 9 December

2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcSUs9iZv-g.

“Recent High Profile Suicides Spark Concerns Of ‘Copycat’ Trend.” YouTube, uploaded by

NBC News, 8 June 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIdq5ey_bvQ.

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“Social media sites told to stop glorifying suicide and self-harm.” YouTube, uploaded by 5 News,

28 January 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVBPG0oLMEU&t=33s.

“Teen Suicide Challenge and Social Media.” YouTube, uploaded by The Doctors, 23 October

2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brk0A8V7ww0&t=126s.

The Relationship Between PTSD and Suicide. The Ranch,

https://www.recoveryranch.com/articles/the-relationship-between-ptsd-suicide/. Accessed

24 March 2019.

“10 strangest things left on celebrity suicide notes.” YouTube, uploaded by Bite Size Psych, 6

August 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF8JvU4bRa8.